Mean Girls musical lands bigger box office debut than original
Mean Girls' musical remake has officially pulled in higher box office figures than the 2004 original.
The new movie – adapted from the award-winning stage show of the same name – saw opening figures of $28 million according to Comscore (via Entertainment Weekly).
In comparison, the 2004 version, which starred Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams, opened with $24.4 million on its first weekend. However, it's worth noting that the two figures aren't directly comparable due to inflation, when adjusted the number becomes closer to $40 million for the original.
Additionally the movie took in another $6.5 million in international markets ahead of its premiere in the UK on Wednesday (January 17), giving 2024's Mean Girls a worldwide gross of $34.5 million for its opening weekend (excluding estimate takings for US holiday, Martin Luther King Jr Day).
Related: Mean Girls review: A smart and funny update of the iconic movie
The original went on to gross over $86.1 million in the US (rising to $130.1 million worldwide) in the following years, becoming a highly quoted pop-culture phenomenon and modern classic.
Mean Girls stars Reneé Rapp as Queen Bee Regina George (reprising her role from the Broadway musical) alongside Angourie Rice as Cady Heron, while Bebe Wood and Avantika play fellow Plastics Gretchen Wieners and Karen Shetty.
The US Office's Jenna Fischer also features as Cady's mother, while Tina Fey (who wrote and produced the film as well as its 2004 original) reprises her role as Ms. Norbury.
The film has so far received a largely positive response from critics, currently sitting at 71% on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing.
Related: Mean Girls soundtrack: Which songs have been cut from the musical?
Meanwhile, Rapp recently spoke to Digital Spy about adapting the role of Regina George for screen, revealing that the storyline feels very "layered" for the characters.
"There's things written between the lines that aren't necessarily said but that I think are implied by the way that Tina [Fey] adapted it, and then by the way that we also adapted it which makes me like it a lot," she said.
Mean Girls is released in UK cinemas on January 17 and is already out in US cinemas.
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