Jeymes Samuel And Jay-Z’s ‘Book Of Clarence’ Bombs At The Box-Office During MLK Opening Weekend

January 17, 2024
Jeymes Samuel and Jay-Z needed more prayers for their Jesus-inspired film that tanked at the box office during opening weekend.
Jeymes Samuel and Jay-Z needed more prayers for their Jesus-inspired film that tanked at the box office during opening weekend.
“The Book of Clarence” hit theaters during Martin Luther King Jr. weekend and faced competition from Tina Fey’s “Mean Girls” musical and Amazon/MGM’s “The Beekeeper” starring Jason Statham. The $33.2 million domestic opening “Mean Girls” received and $19.1 million four-day opening for “The Beekeeper” completely swamped Samuels’ $2.6 million opening weekend numbers, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
2,010 theaters played the film during MLK weekend compared to the 3,791 North American theaters that played “Mean Girls” and 3,303 theaters that played “The Beekeeper.” However, “The Book of Clarence” less than $3 million open is nowhere near the $40 million it took to make the film.
The film opened at No. 9, below older releases like “Wonka,” “Anyone But You,” and “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” via Box Office Mojo. Distributed by Legendary Pictures, Samuels’ biblical satirical faith-based drama starred LaKeith Stanfield, Omar Sy, RJ Cyler, David Oyelowo, Alfre Woodard, David Oyelowo, and Teyana Taylor.
Written and directed by Samuels and produced by Jay-Z, “The Book of Clarence” received mixed reviews with a 68% on Rotten Tomatoes and a B CinemaScore, according to Fortune. 
One top critic gave it a 3 out of 5 while praising Stanfield for how he “shines in a fun biblical comedy that doesn’t always come together.”
“The Book of Clarence needed a less indulgent editor and a woman reading the script, but Samuel deserves credit for finally making a Biblical epic that looks closer to the historic Hebrews even as it messes with the formula,” said another reviewer who gave the film a C+.
“The Book of Clarence is not going to register with everybody. I admired this movie for all it tried to do. Did it always work? No,” added someone else.
Samuels sought to provide a more relatable depiction of the biblical era compared to white-led Hollywood films on the story of Jesus.
“While I love those biblical epics, Black people are never in them. I see Yul Brynner and Charlton Heston. I love those actors, but they’re not Egyptian,” Samuel told Variety. “It was super important to tell a story that was based on the environment that I grew up in. It’s a local story — anyone can relate to it.”
RELATED CONTENT: Jay-Z Talks ‘Putting Ourselves’ In The ‘New Testament As We Should Be’ In ‘The Book Of Clarence’ Film








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