Paramount’s new venture with the classic teen movie, the “Mean Girls” is projecting to generate upto $30 million from 3,800 North American theaters this weekend. Coincidingly this weekend is also Martin Luther King Jr.’s weekend, making it even more exciting for movie production houses. A debut of $20 million is projected by the studio while independent tracking services predict a close $35 million. That makes this franchise very successful because Mean Girls cost just $36 million to produce. Originally it was meant to be an OTT release on Paramount + but based on the enthusiasm of audiences during test screening, a theatrical release was preferred.
This weekend is not only reserved for Plastics 2.0 but also for Amazon MGM’s The Beekeeper which is an action thriller directed by David Ayer. It stars Jason Statham and is expected to score a solid $17 million – $19 million over the span of four days. Additionally, another new release, Sony’s biblical comedic drama, “The Book of Clarence,” is aiming at a $5-$7 million between Friday and Monday.
Coming back to Mean Girls, originally adapted from the 2002 book “Queen Bees and Wannabees” into the 2004 movie “Mean Girls”, and its sequel in 20111 ‘Mean Girls 2’ this 2024 adaptation is a musical, making it a tougher act to follow. The original movie made several iconic touchstones, for instance turning October 3 into a ‘it’ day, followed by teaching an entire generation that butter is not a carb. The interesting thing to note is that Tina Fey who wrote the original 2004 script, turned scriptwriter for this musical adaptation as well.
With theatrical competition from ‘The Beekeeper’ and OTT competition from ‘The Book of Clarence”, Mean Girls needs to put its strong foot forward and take the theatres by its reigns.
