Embed from Getty Images

When Roadside Attractions purchased Cookie Queens a few months after the documentary premiered at Sundance, they did so with the promise that Cookie Queens would get a theatrical release. That’s a big deal – many documentaries get shuffled off to streaming these days. So, Cookie Queens got a limited theatrical release starting last week, with 446 screens carrying the documentary. That in and of itself is a big achievement! But not to Page Six and the British media, all of whom are now mocking the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for not making a box office hit. You guys, it’s a documentary about Girl Scouts selling cookies.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry‘s newest film project, “Cookie Queens,” crumbled at the box office over the weekend as the latest Hollywood misstep for the runaway royals.

The documentary — which marked the Montecito duo’s theatrical feature debut as executive producers — was left with crumbs, grabbing just $735 per screen and opening at No. 15, according to Boxoffice Pro. That was five spots behind “CatVideoFest 2026,” a 70-minute theatrical compilation of the internet’s best cat videos.

Other indie films that opened ahead of “Cookie Queens” included “Tony” — the Anthony Bourdain biopic from A24 that debuted on just six screens — and two Indian imports, “DC” and “Korean Kanakaraju.” (Another popular tracking site, IMDb’s Box Office Mojo, had “Cookie Queens” at No. 13, but didn’t have numbers reported for the two Indian films.)

Markle and Harry’s Archewell Productions hasn’t found traction with audiences since a tell-all docuseries about their exit from the royal family first launched a lucrative deal with Netflix.

“Cookie Queens” arrived in theaters with a feel-good premise and critical raves. The Alysa Nahmias-helmed documentary entered the weekend with an impressive 94% rating on RottenTomatoes.

But the box-office numbers were half-baked at best, with the film about one intense Girl Scout Cookie season earning just $327,797 from 446 screens.

(Compare that to the 2003 doc “Spellbound,” which was tonally similar and revolved around eight kids vying for the National Spelling Bee title. That film had a per-screen average of $17,508 in its opening weekend en route to a $7,457,710 haul during its full run over two decades ago.)

Jeff Bock, senior media analyst at Exhibitor Relations, tells P6H that indie distributor Roadside Attractions made a head-scratching decision to release “Cookie Queens” during the summer corridor.

“The documentary probably should have been released at the height of Girl Scout cookie season, when the cookies, and the girls selling them, are part of the national conversation,” Bock says. “For a small documentary, timing is marketing. It missed the very window that could have made it feel relevant and turned curiosity into ticket sales. Guess that’s the way the cookie crumbles.”

[From Page Six]

I think releasing it in the dead of summer was a weird call as well, unless Roadside’s intention was “counterprogramming for all of the big summer movies.” Like, you can go see Spider-Man, The Odyssey or… you can take your daughters to see Cookie Queens. I think those numbers are perfectly respectable, by the way, for a small documentary. And getting 90-something percent on Rotten Tomatoes is a big deal as well. The reviews are great, and I’m glad someone made a good documentary about Girl Scouts. I’m sure it will find an audience.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty Images, Backgrid.