Cat Clips Outearn Meghan and Harry’s Cookie Queens at Box Office

Cookie Queens, the first film released under Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Archewell Productions banner, opened to $327,797 across 446 screens over the August 7 weekend. It finished 15th at the domestic box office.

The 91-minute documentary about four young Girl Scouts competing to sell the most cookies was outgrossed by CatVideoFest 2026, a 74-minute compilation of internet cat clips that earned $569,414 from just 255 screens. It debuted at No. 10.

The per-screen averages tell the starker story: roughly $735 for the royal-backed film, compared with $2,229 for the cat clips, according to Box Office Mojo. The result marks another commercial stumble for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as they expand their Hollywood footprint.

Cats Top Cookies, Bourdain Biopic

CatVideoFest 2026, curated by Seattle filmmaker Will Braden from more than 15,000 online clips, also outperformed A24’s new Anthony Bourdain biopic Tony, which opened on just six screens.

The feline compilation is distributed by Oscilloscope Laboratories, the hip indie company founded by late Beastie Boy Adam Yauch in 2008.

Braden acknowledged the question of curation head-on. “I’d love to say it’s all my curation: I do want to work hard for people to feel like it’s not just the algorithm clicking next, next, next.”

Braden attributed much of the film’s appeal to the communal experience.

“They’re like, ‘I’m with my people.’ They can have a whole bunch of laughs, and raise money. It’s because the experience is unmatched. You have Radiohead on Spotify, but you don’t say, ‘Why see them in concert?’”

The Times of London sharpened the knife. An industry source told the paper:

“Not taking the good name of the world’s No 1 cat video festival in vain, this is by any measure a pretty pitiful return.”

Critical reception for Cookie Queens was mixed rather than devastating. Variety described it as “too much of a reality-show ramble,” likening it to “Dance Moms meets a preteen version of The Apprentice meets the 2002 spelling-bee documentary Spellbound.”

Roger Ebert’s site was kinder, awarding three-and-a-half stars out of four and calling it an “adorable delight.” Critic Tomris Laffly wrote that “the artificially sweetened taste of capitalism soon fades,” adding that “what lingers is the undeniable and very welcome reality that the young girls of today will one day be the leaders and challengers of the world that they’re growing up in: commercialism, patriarchy and all.”

Sundance Buzz Fizzles

Harry and Meghan attended the Cookie Queens premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah in January. The screening began roughly 15 minutes late after Meghan, introduced as the Duchess of Sussex, opted to make a speech.

Since then, the Archewell publicity machine has gone quiet. The film has had to fend for itself against Spider-Man and Odysseus, the weekend’s theatrical heavyweights.

Archewell partnered with Beautiful Stories and AJNA Films on the project. Neither Harry nor Meghan appears on screen.

The duchess promoted the film by invoking her own Girl Scout past. “I was a Girl Scout, my mum was a troop leader, and I think the value of friendship, of being dedicated to a goal, as you can see that in Cookie Queens, it’s so reflective of how these girls stick with something that’s important to them and don’t give up. And self-belief is an integral value that comes with being a Girl Scout.”

The cat-video series continues to grow. Theaters are adding screenings to meet demand. International markets are picking it up, a reflection of how few G-rated options Hollywood currently offers.

Braden, asked about that landscape, put it plainly: “It’s like Taylor Swift, Pixar and us.”

Sources

• Thedailybeast