‘MEAN’ & GREEN AT BOX OFFICE
‘Girls’ soars to top spot with $28M on the holiday weekend
Winter storms and cinema closures in North America didn’t dampen the opening weekend for “Mean Girls.” The Paramount release, adapted from the Broadway musical and the 2004 Tina Fey movie, earned $28 million in its first three days in theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday. Not accounting for inflation, that’s more than the $24.4 million the first movie made in its opening weekend.
The “Mean Girls” competition over the Martin Luther King Day holiday weekend featured several new releases, including the Jason Statham action movie “The Beekeeper” and the Jay-Z produced biblical satire “The Book of Clarence,” in addition to a slew of awards contenders capitalizing on buzz from recent nominations and the Golden Globes.
As with “Barbie,” another enthusiastically pink movie, female audiences made up the vast majority (76%) of opening weekend ticket buyers for “Mean Girls (photo).” According to exit polls, 70% were between the ages of 18 and 34, which, yes, means that it had appeal for audiences who hadn’t been born when Regina George was first introduced to the world.
This iteration of “Mean Girls” stars Angourie Rice, Auli’i Cravalho and Reneé Rapp, who played Regina on stage. It was originally planned to go straight to streaming on Paramount+, but the studio pivoted after test scores were positive. Social media played a big part in getting the word out, and “Mean Girls” also inspired groups of friends to go to the movies together. An estimated 40% went with two or more friends.
Amazon and MGM’s “The Beekeeper” debuted in second place with an estimated $16.8 million from 3,303 theaters. Men made up approximately 62% of ticket buyers, and audiences overall gave it a B+ CinemaScore. By the end of the four-day weekend, the studio expects it to have made $19.1 million. Miramax handled the international distribution for “The Beekeper,” which also grossed $20.4 million from 49 territories.
Third place went to “Wonka,” which added $8.4 million in its fifth weekend. The Timothée Chalamet-led musical has now made over $178 million domestically and $500 million globally.
The Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell romantic comedy “Anyone But You,” a Sony release, is turning into a bit of a sleeper success as well, making nearly $7 million in its fourth weekend.
By Monday, its domestic total should be around $56.5 million. Universal and Illumination’s “Migration” rounded out the top five with $6.2 million in its fourth weekend.