Nearly 20 years ago, Mean Girls debuted at the top of the box office and began its journey to becoming a pop cultural phenomenon. Now, in 2024, a film adaptation of the Broadway musical that was inspired by the 2004 film (a lot to unpack there), has claimed the top spot in a big way over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.
Mean Girls grossed an impressive $28.6 million over 3 days and $33.2 million over 4 days, exceeding its $27 million box office opening tracking for the holiday. The $36 million endeavor had to deal with Storm Gerri in the midwest, which did hurt business some, but Mean Girls proved that no storm is stronger than Regina George. The movie played well to its target demo, with women making up 75 percent of the audience according to EnTelligence. The biggest demo proved to be 26-35 year olds at 34 percent so it was a nice mix of the new audience and moviegoers who grew up with the original film.
This is a big win for Paramount Pictures, who were going to release the film straight to streaming via Paramount+ until test screenings showed promise that the movie could perform very well theatrically. Another marketing ploy that worked, which has for most musicals lately, is that the marketing didn’t explicitly reveal the film was a musical. The head of marketing at Paramount stated this week that was a deliberate choice because they didn’t want to alienate a certain faction of the audience. Wonka pulled a similar move ahead of its December opening and it has now cleared $500 million worldwide. There is a debate to be made about bait-and-switch marketing but it has proven to work, at least in these recent cases. The film received a “B” CinemaScore from opening day audiences which is down from the “A-” of the 2004 film. That could indicate that some weren’t pleased by everything the film had to offer but given the film’s modest budget and a lack of competition in the demo until February, Mean Girls could continue to play well, even if it takes a bigger than expected tumble in week 2.
Opening impressively in second place is David Ayer’s The Beekeeper, which earned $16.6 million over 3 days and $19.1 million over 4 days. This is ahead of tracking for the Jason Statham-led action film which had it earning $15 million over 4 days so this is a win for Ayer, Statham, and check your brain at the door action films. You might look at The Beekeeper and think critics tore this one apart but that wasn’t the case. The film is sitting pretty with a 70 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes while the audience score is even higher at 94 percent. The film also earned a better-than-expected “B+” CinemaScore from opening day audiences so that bodes well for its long-term prospects. The movie cost a reported $34 million to make so, at the end of the day, this one might turn a tiny profit.
In third place, we find Wonka with a gross of $8.5 million over 3 days and $10.8 million over 4 days. The film dropped 40 percent from the previous weekend but it has continued to be the true winner of the Christmas corridor since opening in December. It has already been mentioned that the film has cleared $500 million worldwide and, with that, became the highest-grossing film featuring the Willy Wonka character. To date, on the domestic front, the film has grossed $179.7 million.
In fourth place is a strong case that romantic comedies can still work theatrically as Anyone But You continues to pull in the female demo with steady word of mouth. The film grossed $7.1 million over 3 days and $8.2 million over 4 days, down a slim 29 percent from the previous week. While the film opened modestly over the December 22nd weekend, the movie has gradually found its audience and can now be considered a hit. Budgeted at $25 million, the film has grossed $57.6 million domestically and $80.4 million worldwide.
Rounding out the top five is Migration with a 3-day gross of $6.2 million and a 4-day gross of $8.3 million, down 38 percent from the previous weekend. Migration struggled a tad when kids went back to school after the holidays but it did benefit again from the MLK holiday as families made this one a choice once again. Not a huge family hit by any means BUT it has performed well enough overall. To date, the film has grossed $88.7 million domestically and $176.9 million worldwide.
What are your thoughts on this weekend’s box office results? Check back next week when Mean Girls should repeat at the top since there aren’t any wide releases opening that should give it much competition.
Hello! My name is Gaius Bolling: movie, TV, and pop culture junkie! The industry has been in my veins since I was a kid and I have carried that on through adulthood. I attended Los Angeles Film Academy and participated in their screenwriting and editing program. From there, I have learned to hone my skills in the world of entertainment journalism. Some of my favorite genres include horror, action, and drama and I hope to share my love of all of this with you.
