Despite winter storms wreaking havoc and cinemas shutting down across North America, ‘Mean Girls’ had a stellar opening weekend. According to studio estimates on Sunday (Jan. 14), the Paramount release, adapted from the Broadway musical and the 2004 Tina Fey film, pulled in an impressive $28 million in its first three days on the big screen. Hold on to your hats, because without factoring in inflation, that’s even more than the $24.4 million the original movie pocketed during its opening weekend.
Now, let’s dive into the fierce competition that unfolded over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend for ‘Mean Girls’. There is a lineup of new releases, including the Jason Statham action movie ‘The Beekeeper’ and the Jay-Z produced biblical satire ‘The Book of Clarence’. Moreover, we also have a group of awards contenders riding high on the buzz generated by recent nominations and the Golden Globes. It’s a cinematic showdown like no other!
In a twist as vibrant as Barbie’s color palette, it turns out that for Mean Girls, just like its pink counterpart, the opening weekend drew a whopping 76% of its audience from the fabulous world of females. Now, here’s the jaw-dropper – according to those trusty exit polls, 70% of these fans fell into the 18 to 34 age bracket. Wrap your head around that for a moment – it means that there were folks in the theater who were mere dreams in their parents’ eyes when Regina George first strutted onto the scene.
Chris Aronson, the head honcho of domestic distribution over at Paramount, chimed in on this phenomena, stating, “The property is iconic.” He wasn’t shy about giving credit where it’s due, adding, “Tina Fey is legendary and her contemporary twist has resonated with audiences, particularly the female audience.” It seems like Mean Girls has not just stood the test of time but is making waves with a whole new generation of aficionados. Talk about timeless allure!
The latest version of Mean Girls boasts talents like Angourie Rice, Auli’i Cravalho, and Reneé Rap, who previously rocked the role of Regina on stage. Originally slated for a cozy spot on Paramount+, the studio did a double-take when test scores gave them the thumbs up, prompting a swift pivot to a theatrical release. And boy, did social media play the hype maestro, rallying squads of pals to hit the cinemas together – a whopping 40% rolled deep with two or more friends.
Tina Fey made a grand return, not just as the pen-wielding wizard but also gracing the screen in this new cinematic endeavor. The directing duo of Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. brought this spectacle to life, with a reported production bill of $36 million. Critics seem to be nodding approvingly, with a decent 70% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, audience vibes tell a slightly different story, with a B CinemaScore. Hmm, not exactly soaring into the A-list like recent musicals Wonka and The Color Purple. Still, the studio’s optimism is unwavering post-weekend, and hey, there’s an extra $6.5 million in the coffers from 16 international markets. The saga continues!
“It’s no secret that the release calendar is a little light for the first couple of 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.”
Alright, buckle up for the latest box office buzz! The Beekeeper, the Amazon and MGM collab, swooped into the scene and snagged the second-place crown, pulling in a cool $16.8 million from a whopping 3,303 theaters. Hold on, the plot thickens – a solid 62% of the audience had their tickets punched by the fellas, and overall, it landed a respectable B+ CinemaScore. The weekend’s not even done yet, and the studio’s playing the fortune teller, expecting a grand total of $19.1 million by the end of the four-day extravaganza. But here’s the kicker – Miramax took charge of the global
dance for The Beekeeper, raking in an extra $20.4 million from 49 different territories.
Now, sliding into the third-place spotlight, we’ve got Wonka, still working its magic in its fifth weekend with a sweet $8.4 million added to the pot. The Timothée Chalamet-led musical spectacular has now flexed its muscles, crossing the $178 million mark domestically and a jaw-dropping $500 million globally.
Guess what went down on October 3, the sacred “Mean Girls Day”? Paramount threw a curveball, hitting up TikTok to whisk the younger crowd into the cult classic universe. They didn’t hold back either – imagine 23 bite-sized, 10-minute clips storming the social media stage in a one-day marketing blitz. It’s like they declared war on boredom!
Also Read: Mean Girls: The 2024 Version Struggles with ‘Muzzled’ Humour And ‘Awkward’ Music
Paramount decided to unleash the original Mean Girls magic, a global money-spinner that raked in $130 million. They figured, why not let the OG film work its charm as the ultimate hype machine for this fresh take? It’s like they’re saying, “If it ain’t broke, let’s make it trend on TikTok!” Now that’s a marketing move that’s as bold as Regina George’s Burn Book.
Now, let that sink in for a moment – all this hullabaloo for a movie that Tina Fey herself, the screenwriter, producer, and star, says feels like it’s been on TBS every day for two decades. The magic of Mean Girls never gets old, it seems, and these TikTok shenanigans are just the latest page in its book of everlasting charm. Talk about a digital rollercoaster!
The masterminds over at Paramount, led by the marketing wizard Marc Weinstock, pulled off a stunt that’s got us all scratching our heads in amazement. Brace yourself – in just the first 15 hours on TikTok, their move garnered a mind-blowing 750,000 views of the entire film. Not stopping there, they rustled up a whopping 100,000 new recruits for the Mean Girls TikTok account, sending the follower count skyrocketing to a jaw-dropping 515,000.
Now, let that sink in for a moment – all this hullabaloo for a movie that Tina Fey herself, the screenwriter, producer, and star, says feels like it’s been on TBS every day for two decades. The magic of Mean Girls never gets old, it seems, and these TikTok shenanigans are just the latest page in its book of everlasting charm. Talk about a digital rollercoaster!