Box Office Report: Get In, Loser… ‘Mean Girls’ Is Back On Top

Box Office analysis is provided by Daniel Garris of BoxOfficeReport.com.

Weekend Estimates:

Paramount's Mean Girls debuted in first place over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday frame with respective estimated three-day and four-day weekend grosses of $28.00 million and $32.00 million. That was in line with consensus expectations for the musical comedy, which had tended to be in the high $20 million to the mid $30 million range. Mean Girls was also off to a nice start with the film's cost in mind and when considering that the film was initially planned to be a direct to streaming release on Paramount+, before the decision was made to release the film theatrically instead. The opening weekend performance for Mean Girls was similar to the opening weekend performance of Paramount's Scream, which had respective three-day and four-day starts of $30.02 million and $33.86 million over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend back in 2002. Mean Girls, which is an adaptation of the Mean Girls stage musical, was directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr., and stars an ensemble cast that features Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auli'i Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey, Avantika, Bebe Wood, Christopher Briney, Tina Fey and Tim Meadows.

Mean Girls started out with $11.55 million on Friday (which included an estimated $3.25 million from Thursday preview shows that began at 4PM and select early access shows on Wednesday), declined 16.5 percent on Saturday to take in $9.65 million, is estimated to decrease 29.5 percent on Sunday to gross $6.80 million and is estimated to decrease 41.2 percent on Monday to gross $4.00 million. The film's estimated opening weekend to preview gross ratio of 8.62 to 1 was respectable and is an encouraging early sign going forward. On the average, critical reviews for Mean Girls have been good, but not great. The film's B rating on CinemaScore suggests that Mean Girls is going over similarly with audiences as it has with critics. The fact that not everyone has been aware that this version of Mean Girls is a musical could also be taking a bit of a toll on audience ratings for the film. Internationally, Mean Girls started out with an estimated $6.5 million this weekend from 16 select international markets. That places the film's global start through Sunday at $34.5 million.

Amazon MGM Studios' The Beekeeper was also off to a very nice start this weekend with respective estimated three-day and four-day second place grosses of $16.79 million and $19.15 million. The David Ayer directed action thriller starring Jason Statham exceeded consensus expectations, which had tended to be in the low-teen million to the mid-teen million range. The Beekeeper was also off to a stronger than usual start for a Jason Statham-led film (not including The Meg films). The stronger than expected start for The Beekeeper was especially noteworthy given that the film opened against competition from the first weekend of the NFL Playoffs. The Beekeeper received a significant boost this weekend from grossing an estimated $3.2 million from domestic IMAX screens over the four-day frame, which represented 16.7 percent of this weekend's overall domestic gross. The cast for The Beekeeper also features also features Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Minnie Driver, Phylicia Rashad and Jeremy Irons.

The Beekeeper began its run with $6.77 million on Friday (which included a significant estimated $2.40 million from Thursday preview shows that began early at 2PM and early access shows this past Saturday), declined a reasonable 15.3 percent on Saturday to gross $5.73 million, is estimated to decrease 25.0 percent on Sunday to take in $4.30 million and is estimated to decrease 45.0 percent on Monday to gross $2.36 million. As has been the case with Mean Girls, on the average critical reviews for The Beekeeper have been good, but not great. The Beekeeper looks to be going over a bit better with audiences than it has with critics after receiving a solid B+ rating on CinemaScore. Internationally, The Beekeeper started out with an estimated $20.4 million from 49 international markets. That places the global start for the film through Sunday at $37.2 million. The Beekeeper grossed an estimated $1.9 million from international IMAX screens through Monday, for a global IMAX total of $5.1 million through Monday.

After leading the domestic box office three of the past four weekends, Warner Bros.'s Wonka placed in third this weekend with respective estimated three-day and four-day grosses of $8.38 million and $10.88 million. The three-day weekend performance for Wonka was down a respectable 40.5 percent from last weekend, as the film (and holdovers in general this weekend) appears to have taken a bit of a hit from the combination of Mean Girls and The Beekeeper entering the marketplace. With a healthy 32-day domestic gross of $178.69 million through Monday, Wonka is still in good shape to eventually pass the $200 million domestic mark (especially given the limited amount of new releases entering the marketplace each of the next two weeks). This weekend saw Wonka pass the $500 million global mark. The film grossed an estimated $15.3 million internationally this weekend from 77 international markets. Respective totals for Wonka through Sunday stand at $329.1 million internationally and at $505.3 million globally. Wonka has grossed a very impressive $71.1 million from the United Kingdom to date.

Sony's Anyone But You placed in fourth over the three-day weekend with an estimated $6.94 million. With an estimated four-day gross of $8.26 million, Anyone But You is currently just behind Universal's Migration for fifth place over the four-day frame. While Anyone But You did lose some momentum this weekend after exceptional holds each of the previous two weekends, in the bigger picture the R-rated romantic comedy still held up well this weekend by declining just 28.8 percent over the three-day frame. Through Monday, the 25-day domestic total for Anyone But You stands at $56.49 million. That places the current domestic total to opening weekend ratio for the film at an exceptional 9.42 to 1. And with the mentioned relative lack of new releases entering the marketplace each of the next two frames, Anyone But You will have an excellent chance of continuing to hold up very well the rest of January. Internationally Anyone But You grossed an estimated $5.1 million this weekend from 23 select international markets. Respective totals for the film through Sunday stand at $22.8 million internationally and at $78.0 million globally.

Universal and Illumination's Migration placed in fifth over the three-day frame with an estimated $6.19 million. For the four-day frame, Migration currently has the slight edge over Anyone But You for fourth place with an estimated $8.30 million. Over the three-day frame, Migration was down a solid 38.1 percent, though that also wasn't the greatest hold for a family film over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend (especially with no new major family film opening in wide release this weekend). Through Monday, the 25-day domestic total for Migration stands at $87.87 million, as the film continues to make its way closer to reaching the $100 million domestic mark. Internationally, Migration grossed an estimated $8.9 million this weekend from 74 international markets. That brings the film's international total to $86.9 million and global haul through Sunday to $172.6 million.

Warner Bros.'s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom placed in sixth this weekend with respective estimated three-day and four-day grosses of $5.27 million and $6.64 million. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom had been holding up relatively well for a high-profile comic book based sequel, but the film took a clear hit this weekend as it fell a sizable 50.3 percent over the three-day frame. In addition to the new direct competition from The Beekeeper (which resulted in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom losing the remainder of its IMAX shows), Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom also had to deal with playing in a significant 812 fewer locations this weekend than last weekend. Through Monday, the 25-day domestic total for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom stands at $109.60 million. For what it's worth, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has now passed the $108.13 million final domestic gross of The Flash to become the highest grossing of the four 2023 DCEU releases domestically. Internationally, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom remained more impressive this weekend with an estimated $16.6 million from 78 international markets. Through Sunday, respective totals for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom stand at $265.5 million internationally (including $57.5 million from China) and at $373.7 million globally, as the film closes in on the $400 million global mark.

On the heels of last weekend's respectable second place start, Universal and Blumhouse's Night Swim fell a sharp 60.5 percent and five spots to land in seventh place over the three-day frame with an estimated $4.66 million. The PG-13 rated horror film grossed an estimated $5.50 million over the four-day weekend, which brings the eleven-day domestic total for Night Swim through Monday to $20.01 million. Largely poor critical reviews, mixed word of mouth, the film losing a high percentage of its average showtimes per location from last weekend and the combination of Mean Girls and The Beekeeper entering the marketplace all look to have taken a toll on Night Swim this weekend. Internationally, Night Swim grossed an estimated $2.5 million this weekend from 40 international markets. That brings the film's international total to $10.6 million and global total through Sunday to $29.7 million.

Other new releases and expansions of note this weekend included Sony and Legendary's The Book of Clarence which opened with respective estimated three-day and four-day takes of $2.58 million and $3.00 million (from 2,010 locations), Amazon MGM Studios and MRC's American Fiction, which had respective estimated three-day and four-day grosses of $1.91 million and $2.33 million upon expanding to moderate release in an estimated 625 locations this weekend, and Disney's theatrical re-issue of Pixar's Soul, which debuted with respective estimated three-day and four-day grosses of just $0.43 million and $0.56 million from a semi-wide 1,350 locations.

As a biblical comedy, the Jeymes Samuel directed The Book of Clarence was always going to be a tough sell at the box office, but the film's opening was even lower than had been expected. On the heels of four weeks of platform release, American Fiction had a promising expansion into moderate release, with a per-location average of $3,050 for the three-day frame. The critically acclaimed Cord Jefferson directed film starring Jeffrey Wright has grossed an estimated $5.64 million through Monday and is likely to continue to hold up well throughout the rest of awards season. And even by lower profile re-issue standards, Soul performed poorly this weekend and seems to be a lost opportunity given the relative lack of new options for family audiences at the moment. It will be interesting to see if Disney and Pixar can have better results at the box office with the upcoming theatrical re-issues of Turning Red on February 9th and Luca on March 22nd, which like Soul, were also direct to streaming releases domestically on Disney+.

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