MEAN GIRLS Gets $3.3 Million Opening; Projected to Dominate Weekend Box Office

Mean Girls opened with a fetch $3.3 million in previews at the North American box office on Thursday.

The Hollywood Reporter reveals that their box office score from the Thursday night showings put them on par with Wonka's initial screenings. The Timothee Chalamet-led movie musical has gone on to dominate the box office for multiple weeks.

Mean Girls is projected to lead the long weekend box office, with THR reporting that it will bring in $30 million. The Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr.-directed movie musical cost $36 million to make.

The film currently has a fresh 70% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Check out what critics thought and read reviews here.

The adaptation of the 2004 film and 2018 Broadway musical was originally intended to stream exclusively on Paramount+, but early scores for the film led Paramount to give it a theatrical release.

Released on the 20th anniversary of the original film, Mean Girls stars Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auli’i Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey, Avantika, Bebe Wood, Christopher Briney, Jenna Fischer, Busy Philipps, Ashley Park, with original stars Tina Fey and Tim Meadows.

New student Cady Heron (Rice) is welcomed into the top of the social food chain by the elite group of popular girls called “The Plastics,” ruled by the conniving queen bee Regina George (Rapp) and her minions Gretchen (Wood) and Karen (Avantika).

However, when Cady makes the major misstep of falling for Regina’s ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels (Briney), she finds herself prey in Regina’s crosshairs.

As Cady sets to take down the group’s apex predator with the help of her outcast friends Janis (Cravalho) and Damian (Spivey), she must learn how to stay true to herself while navigating the most cutthroat jungle of all: high school. 

Photo: Jojo Whilden/Paramount © 2023 Paramount Pictures.