Keke Palmer stars in 2025’s One of Them Days, and the comedy with 96% on Rotten Tomatoes nearly broke a three-year box office drought with this impressive feat. The January box office is always hit or miss, with movies released in the first month of the year typically having a bad reputation as post-award season films. However, One of Them Days has been a surprising box office and critical hit, with it nearly pulling off a major box office record that hasn’t been done by a comedy in three years.

Directed by Lawrence Lamont, written by Syreeta Singleton, and produced by Issa Rae, One of Them Days stars Keke Palmer and SZA, with it being one of the most-anticipated comedies of 2025. The film follows two roommates as they quickly attempt to pay their rent after one of their boyfriend’s steal their money, with the comedic premise going in all kinds of different directions. One of Them Days is a pure comedy, making this box office feat incredibly impressive.

One Of Them Days Was Only $250K Shy Of Winning The Weekend Box Office In Its Debut

It Was Beat My Mufasa: The Lion King

Despite being projected to only make $8-13 million in its opening four-day weekend (as the film was released on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend in the United States), One of Them Days ended up making $11.8 million in its opening weekend and $14 million in its opening four-day weekend. This means that the film’s box office exceeded expectations, which is a good sign for its future performance. One of Them Days ended the weekend in second place, with it only being beaten by a holdover from 2024 (via Box Office Mojo).

Mufasa: The Lion King ended the third weekend of January in first place, but not by much. At the domestic box office, Mufasa: The Lion King made $12.05 million, meaning that One of Them Days was only $250,000 away from dethroning the Disney тιтan. Even though Mufasa: The Lion King has only been out for a few weekends, it is incredibly impressive that an R-rated comedy released in January was almost able to beat a film in The Lion King franchise.

One Of Them Days Would Have Been The First Comedy To Win The Weekend Box Office Since 2022

It Hasn’t Been Done Since Jackᴀss Forever

If One of Them Days had made $250,000 more, it would have been the first comedy to win the weekend box office since 2022. This hasn’t happened since February 2022, with Jackᴀss Forever being the last movie to pull this feat off. Even then, Jackᴀss Forever isn’t a traditional narrative feature, making the potential success of One of Them Days even more impressive.

While some films that could be considered comedies have topped the box office since Jackᴀss Forever, they aren’t pure comedies. Films like ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine and others heavily lean into other genres like action, whereas One of Them Days is a comedy at its core.