J. Kim Murphy Paramount’s “Mean Girls” musical is winning most popular at the domestic box office this weekend. The adaptation of the Broadway adaptation of the beloved 2004 comedy is off to a strong start, coming in ahead of the latest Jason Statham actioner “The Beekeeper“ “Mean Girls” earned $11.65 million from 3,791 theaters across Friday and preview screenings, tracking to a four-day opening of $31.5 million through the Martin Luther King Jr.
Day holiday. That’s quite a substantial figure for a musical that was originally commissioned with plans to skip theaters and make a streaming debut directly on Paramount+.
The studio changed its tune after test screenings. From its first trailer, many viewers took notice that the marketing for the “Mean Girls” musical seemed to purposefully exclude song-and-dance numbers.
Some ticketbuyers may have been caught by surprise to discover a big screen adaptation of a Broadway musical, as indicated by the middling “B” grade through research firm Cinema Score’s survey of early crowds.
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