Winter storms and cinema closures in North America didn’t dampen the opening weekend for “Mean Girls.” The Paramount launch, tailored from the Broadway musical and the 2004 Tina Fey film, earned $28 million in its first three days in theaters in response to studio estimates Sunday. Not accounting for inflation, that’s greater than the $24.4 million the primary film made in its opening weekend.
The “Mean Girls” comeptition over the Martin Luther King Jr. vacation weekend included a number of new releases, just like the Jason Statham motion film “The Beekeeper” and the Jay-Z produced biblical satire “The Book of Clarence,” along with a slew of awards contenders capitalizing on buzz from current nominations and the Golden Globes.
As with “Barbie,” one other enthusiastically pink film, feminine audiences made up the overwhelming majority (76%) of opening weekend ticket consumers for “Mean Girls.” Based on exit polls, 70% have been between the ages of 18 and 34, which, sure, signifies that it had enchantment for audiences who hadn’t been born when Regina George was first launched to the world.
“The property is iconic,” mentioned Chris Aronson, Paramount’s president of home 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 performed Regina on stage. It was initially deliberate to go straight to streaming on Paramount+, however the studio pivoted after check scores have been constructive. Social media performed a giant half in getting the phrase out and “Mean Girls” additionally impressed teams of mates to go to the flicks collectively. An estimated 40% went with two or extra mates.
Fey returned to put in writing and co-star within the new movie, which was directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. and price a reported $36 million to provide. Opinions have been extra constructive than not, with a 70% on Rotten Tomatoes, however audiences gave it a B CinemaScore which can not bode particularly effectively for word-of-mouth enchantment. Latest musicals like “Wonka” and “The Color Purple” scored within the A-range. The studio is optimistic after this weekend although. It additionally made $6.5 million from 16 worldwide 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 mentioned. “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. Males made up roughly 62% of ticket consumers and audiences total gave it a B+ CinemaScore. By the tip of the four-day weekend, the studio expects it to have made $19.1 million. Miramax dealt with the worldwide distribution for “The Beekeper,” which additionally 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 revamped $178 million domestically and $500 million globally.
“Musicals are on a roll,” mentioned 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 launch, is popping right into a little bit of a sleeper success as effectively, making almost $7 million in its fourth weekend. By Monday, its home complete must be round $56.5 million. Universal and Illumination’s “Migration” rounded out the highest 5 with $6.2 million in its fourth weekend.
Not the whole lot landed this weekend, although. “The Book of Clarence,” a faith-based comedy/drama with a starry, ensemble solid together with LaKeith Stanfield, Omar Sy, RJ Cyler, David Oyelowo, Alfre Woodard and Teyana Taylor just isn’t off to a promising begin. The Legendary Footage launch opened to an estimated $2.6 million from simply over 2,000 areas.
Written and directed by the British singer-songwriter Jeymes Samuel (stage title The Bullitts), it was self-consciously styled after Golden Age biblical epics like “The Ten Commandments.” It has additionally gotten blended opinions, with 68% on Rotten Tomatoes and a B CinemaScore.
The Walt Disney Co. despatched its 2020 Pixar movie “Soul” to film theaters this weekend as effectively, the place it made $429,000 from 1350 areas in North America. It’s the primary of a number of Pixar motion pictures, together with “Luca” and “Turning Red,” that Disney is bringing to theaters this winter in spite of everything had streaming-only releases on Disney+ in the course of the pandemic.
Hollywood’s awards season can also be in full swing, and although many prime contenders are already obtainable to look at at dwelling, some are nonetheless rolling out in theaters and hoping to capitalize on new nominations and awards reveals like final weekend’s Golden Globes. “Poor Things,” which was a giant winner, added $1.8 million from solely 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,” enjoying on 25 screens, additionally crossed $1 million.
Estimated ticket gross sales for Friday via Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, in response to Comscore. Remaining home figures will likely be launched Tuesday.
1. “Mean Girls,” $28 million.
2. “The Beekeeper,” $16.8 million.
3. “Wonka,” $8.4 million.
4. “Anyone But You,” $6.9 million.
5. “Migration,” $6.2 million.
6. “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” $5.3 million.
7. “Night Swim,” $4.7 million.
8. “The Boys in the Boat,” $3.5 million.
9. “The Book of Clarence,” $2.6 million.
10. “The Iron Claw,” $2.4 million.
