‘Mean Girls’ Dominates Box Office with Impressive $32 Million Opening Weekend

While there aren’t any huge openings at the box office this Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, Paramount’s musical version of “Mean Girls” is taking center stage. Variety reports that the movie is on track for a strong four-day opening weekend, with an estimated gross of approximately $32 million, after opening to $11.6 million on 3,791 screens on opening day.

This performance matches pre-release projections, providing a ray of hope for movie theaters facing a potentially difficult post-holiday winter. Exhibitors are embracing Paramount’s strategic decision to move “Mean Girls” from a straight-to-streaming release to a theatrical release, especially given the lack of major tentpoles in January and February.

Despite mixed-to-positive word-of-mouth, as evidenced by a B on CinemaScore and 71% Rotten Tomatoes scores from both critics and audiences, “Mean Girls” hopes to defy the trend seen in 2023, in which films with a B+ or lower on CinemaScore struggled to maintain momentum. The lack of major competition in the coming weeks may work in favor of “Mean Girls,” which is expected to outperform its reported $36 million budget.

The action film “The Beekeeper,” starring Jason Statham and directed by David Ayer, is expected to open in second place on Amazon MGM with an industry-estimated $18 million from 3,303 theaters. With a 67% Rotten Tomatoes score, a B+ on CinemaScore, and an amazing 92% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has received generally positive reviews despite its conspiracy-tinged plot.

Sony Pictures has a mixed weekend, with Legendary Pictures’ “The Book of Clarence” failing to crack the top ten. With only $1 million in Friday gross from 2,010 locations, the biblical dramedy starring LaKeith Stanfield is expected to have a modest four-day opening of $3 million. The film, directed by Jeymes Samuel, has a B CinemaScore and a 69% critics Rotten Tomatoes score.

On a more positive note for Sony Pictures’ “Anyone But You” continues to perform well, with an estimated $9 million four-day total over the weekend. After four weekends in theaters, the $25 million romcom is on track for a domestic total of around $57.5 million.

With a $10 million extended weekend earning, Warner Bros.’ “Wonka” closes the weekend as the top film in a difficult winter. This result will propel the Timothée Chalamet-led prequel past $175 million in domestic grosses and into the $500 million club worldwide, making it the first film to do so since the end of the previous summer.