The Big Picture
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Mean Girls,
the musical film, has crossed $100 million at the box office after 6 weeks, a success after strong test screenings and Paramount+ plan. - Angourie Rice shines as Cady Heron in the film adaptation, with Renee Rapp as Regina George, delivering laughs and charm.
- Studio chose not to heavily market it as a musical to appeal to a wider audience, feeling it was more of a broad comedy with music.
Does it get more fetch than this? Mean Girls, the musical film, based on the Broadway musical Mean Girls, adapted from the movie Mean Girls, has just crossed $100 million at the worldwide box office after six weeks of release. The movie crossed the threshold for that major milestone this week as part of the box office boost that Valentine’s Day provided exhibitors. Mean Girls has generated $101.2 million worldwide after six weeks of release, including $71.2 million in North America and $30 million from 31 international territories.
Originally commissioned as a Paramount+ exclusive, the studio opted to send the movie to theaters instead after highly positive test screenings, and it went on to hold the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office for the three weeks immediately after its release on January 12, as well as earned No. 1 openings in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico. The film then expanded to Thailand on February 15 and will open in Singapore and India later this month.
Angourie Rice takes on the role of Cady Heron, originally played by Lindsay Lohan, and finds herself trying to find her place in the complex social hierarchy of her new high school, dominated by a clique known as the Plastics. The charisma machine that is Reneé Rapp shines as the film’s breakout star, reprising her Broadway portrayal of the clique’s leader, the school’s very own Queen Bee, Regina George. The movie features a talented lineup, including Christopher Briney, Bebe Wood, Avantika, Jaquel Spivey, Auli’i Cravalho, along with returning original big-hitters Tim Meadows and the film’s producer and writer, Tina Fey. The movie is directed by the duo Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr.
Is ‘Mean Girls’ a Musical?
Well, the short answer is yes, but you’d be forgiven for believing it wasn’t, as the marketing for the film almost went out of its way to underplay that fact. Was there a reason for this? According to Marc Weinstock, Paramount’s president of global marketing and distribution, the studio believed people would be put off.
“We didn’t want to run out and say it’s a musical because people tend to treat musicals differently. This movie is a broad comedy with music. Yes, it could be considered a musical but it appeals to a larger audience. You can see in [trailers for] ‘Wonka’ and ‘The Color Purple,’ they don’t say musical either. We have a musical note on the title, so there are hints to it without being overbearing.”
Mean Girls is still in theaters. Stay tuned to Collider for updates.
Mean Girls
Cady Heron is a hit with the Plastics, an A-list girl clique at her new school when she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.
- Release Date
- January 12, 2024
- Director
- Samantha Jayne , Arturo Perez Jr.
