‘Mean Girls’ fetches top spot at North America box office

The cast of “Mean Girls.” Image: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures International

The Plastics rule North Shore High once again in Paramount’s musical remake of “Mean Girls,” which won most popular at the North American box office for the second weekend in a row, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.

The tale of high school survival starring Angourie Rice, Renee Rapp, Auli’i Cravalho, Avantika, and Bebe Wood topped the box office with an estimated weekend take of $11.7 million.

Tina Fey, the writer behind this and the 2004 original, plays math teacher Ms. Norbury, in a cameo-studded film featuring drop-ins by original lead Lindsay Lohan, as well as Ashley Park who played Gretchen Wieners in the Broadway musical.

With no major new releases to shake things up in the Friday-through-Sunday period, the order of the top five films remained unchanged from the prior weekend. Hollywood is hoping for a boost from Tuesday’s announcement of Oscar nominations.

In second place was Amazon and MGM’s action picture “The Beekeeper,” at $8.5 million. Jason Statham stars as a former commando seeking vengeance against a criminal group whose cruel scams lead to the suicide of an elderly woman, a friend of his, played by Phylicia Rashad.

Hanging tight in third in its sixth week out was Warner Bros.’ “Wonka” at $6.4 million. The fantasy musical, starring Timothee Chalamet as the eccentric chocolate maker, has taken in $187.2 million in North America and $344 million internationally.

Sony rom-com “Anyone But You” placed fourth at $5.4 million. A sleeper hit, the film has just passed the $100 million mark globally, making it the highest-grossing R-rated comedy since “Bridget Jones’s Baby” in 2016, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell play two people who meet and instantly connect before being tripped up by a series of crossed signals.

And fifth was “Migration,” a family-friendly animation from Universal and Illumination about a goofy family of mallard ducks flying from New England to Jamaica, at $5.3 million.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

• “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” ($3.7 million)
• “I.S.S.” ($3.0 million)
• “Night Swim” ($2.7 million)
• “The Boys in the Boat” ($2.5 million)
• “Poor Things” ($2.0 million)