‘Mean Girls’ Takes 1st Place at Box Office

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 Associated Press reported.
The “Mean Girls” competition over the Martin Luther King Jr. 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.” 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.
“The property is iconic,” said Chris Aronson, Paramount’s president of domestic distribution. “Tina Fey is legendary and her contemporary twist has resonated with audiences, particularly the female audience.”
This iteration of “Mean Girls” stars Angourie Rice, Auli’i Cravalho and Reneé Rap, 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.
Fey returned to write and co-star in the new film, which was directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. and cost a reported $36 million to produce. Reviews have been more positive than not, with a 70% on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences gave it a B CinemaScore which may not bode especially well for word-of-mouth appeal. Recent musicals like “Wonka” and “The Color Purple” scored in the A-range. The studio is optimistic after this weekend though. It also made $6.5 million from 16 international markets.
“It’s no secret that the release calendar is a little light for the first couple months of the year and because of the reception to this film we stand a chance of broadening this audience,” Aronson said. “It really is a crowd-pleaser.”
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.
“Musicals are on a roll,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “It seems like a lot of studios run away from putting musical on their films for fear of limiting their audience pool, but I think this is a genre Hollywood should embrace and highlight.”
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.
Not everything landed this weekend, though. “The Book of Clarence,” a faith-based comedy/drama with a starry, ensemble cast including LaKeith Stanfield, Omar Sy, RJ Cyler, David Oyelowo, Alfre Woodard and Teyana Taylor is not off to a promising start. The Legendary Pictures release opened to an estimated $2.6 million from just over 2,000 locations.
Written and directed by the British singer-songwriter Jeymes Samuel (stage name The Bullitts), it was self-consciously styled after Golden Age biblical epics like “The Ten Commandments.” It has also gotten mixed reviews, with 68% on Rotten Tomatoes and a B CinemaScore.
The Walt Disney Co. sent its 2020 Pixar film “Soul” to movie theaters this weekend as well, where it made $429,000 from 1,350 locations in North America. It's the first of several Pixar movies, including “Luca" and “Turning Red,” that Disney is bringing to theaters this winter after all had streaming-only releases on Disney+ during the pandemic.
Hollywood's awards season is also in full swing, and though many top contenders are already available to watch at home, some are still rolling out in theaters and hoping to capitalize on new nominations and awards shows like last weekend's Golden Globes. “Poor Things,” which was a big winner, added $1.8 million from only 580 theaters. “All of Us Strangers” took in $474,000 from 120 screens. “American Fiction” expanded nationwide and made $1.9 million from 625 screens. “The Zone of Interest,” playing on 25 screens, also crossed $1 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Tuesday.

Jennifer Lopez found herself in tears as the real-life mom Judy Robles, whom she portrayed in the sports drama film "Unstoppable", showered her with compliments for her performance.

The two real-life mothers formed a special bond while working in tandem to take Lopez's role to the next level and connected on how mothers inevitably make mistakes.

"I don't know of a human being who doesn't make mistakes," Lopez said.

"But for moms, it really is a thing where you're always putting up the front of, like, 'everything's perfect,' 'everything's OK,' to protect your children, to give them safety," she added.

For Lopez, women, especially moms, have so much going on behind the scenes, which is a belief that helped her performance.

"Unstoppable," distributed by Amazon MGM Studios, had a limited theatrical US release on Dec. 6 and will be available for streaming on Prime Video on Jan. 16.

The American biographical sports drama film, directed by William Goldenberg, follows wrestler Anthony Robles, who was born with one leg, and joins the Arizona State University wrestling team as a walk-on, eventually earning a spot on the team and making a name for himself.

His mother must find ways to not only advocate for her son, but also for herself.

Goldenberg aimed to add authenticity to the film by having the real-life Robles serve as the body double of the "Moonlight" actor Jharrel Jerome, who portrays Anthony.

Jerome said he became a changed man after working so closely with Anthony Robles.

"You hear actors say it all the time, I learned something, I learned something, but this truly shaped me and changed me as a growing person, as a growing man, all the way down to my physicality, how I move, my posture, my gym routine," Jerome said.

He and his mother being so close to the production made things feel especially nostalgic for Anthony Robles.

"I feel like I go through the roller coaster of emotions all over again and I'm just traveling back in time, just watching the film and especially when I'm sitting next to my mom, because there are certain moments where she's gripping my arm in the audience," Anthony Robles said.

"It's painful for us to relive those moments. But also, there's other moments she's grabbed my arm again, just happy moments. And so that's something special for us," Robles added.

‘Mean Girls’ Takes 1st Place at Box Office