Get in, loser, we’re going to the box office.
Paramount’s “Mean Girls,” a musical adaptation and more Gen Z-skewing version of the iconic teen comedy, is coming to the big screen this weekend. It has made $3.25 million at the box office in Thursday previews.
The 2024 film is based on the popular 2018 Broadway musical, which is based on the 2004 comedy, which is based on the 2002 book “Queen Bees and Wannabees.” The new version stars Angourie Rice as Cady Heron, the homeschooled fish out of water originally played by Lindsay Lohan. She joins a new school and befriends The Plastics, the “cool girl” squad played in this reimagining by Renee Rapp, Bebe Wood and Avantika — who take over from Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert and Amanda Seyfriend.
“Mean Girls” is expected to make $30 million over the four-day MLK Day weekend. For a movie originally envisioned to go straight to streaming, that opening would be successful for its $36 million producing budget.
The movie also stars Auli’i Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey as Cady’s friends Janis and Damian; Jenna Fischer as Cady’s mom; Christopher Briney as Cady’s crush Aaron Samuels; Busy Philipps as Regina’s mom; Tim Meadows as Principal Duvall; Jon Hamm as Coach Carr; and Ashley Park as Madame Park. Tina Fey, who wrote the screenplays for both the original and this new version, reprises her role as math teacher Ms. Norbury.
Also opening this weekend is Amazon MGM’s action movie “The Beekeeper,” starring Jason Statham, and Sony’s biblical comedy “The Book of Clarence,” starring LaKeith Stanfield. “The Beekeeper” made $2.4 million in previews and is projected to fly to $17 million to $19 million over the holiday weekend. “The Book of Clarence” made $285,000 in previews and is eyeing a $5 million opening.
