Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr., in their directorial debuts, as well as screenwriter Tina Fey, tried to “make fetch happen” by reviving Mean Girls. Based on the Tony Award-nominated musical adaptation of the Mark Waters film, Paramount adapted Mean Girls for the big screen once again. In a rare turn of events, however, the critics ended up favoring the January movie release more than the fans did.
The 2024 release of Mean Girls may have brought back original actors like Tina Fey and Tim Meadows. However, new elements made their way into the new movie for today’s audiences. Other than more diverse casting, Mean Girls adapted songs from the stage musical that found its way towards the big screen. Based on the Rotten Tomatoes numbers, though, a shocking revelation occurred — critics are enjoying it more than the fans. The Tomatometer gave the musical teen comedy a fresh score of 69%. Here’s a look at the “critics consensus”:
“Preserving the essence of the original while adding a few new wrinkles — not to mention musical numbers — Mean Girls is a sweet (if slight) update with an outstanding cast.”
According to what the critics have been saying on Rotten Tomatoes, they’re finding it to be a successful adaptation. Many critics have pointed out Renée Rapp‘s version of Regina George to be “terrifying,” “intimidating,” and “hilarious.” Other critics honed in on its “banging” soundtrack and introducing familiar elements while bringing something new to the table.
What Did Fans Have to Say About the New Mean Girls Movie?
Clearly, fans who attended the revenge party of the year seeing Mean Girls were less enthused than the critics. The Rotten Tomatoes audience score was at 66%. This is still a fresh score, but it’s surprising to see critics loving the film more than the audience. It tends to be the other way around. Professional film critics tend to be more critical, so to speak, than audiences who watch a movie for entertainment.
Audiences on the review-aggregation site complained the most about feeling misled when they were watching a musical. Paramount shared with Variety data from exit polls that 75% of audiences knew they’d be watching a musical. But, 16% of people were “disappointed” in the genre twist.
If you were watching the trailers and noticed no mention of Mean Girls being a musical, there’s a reason. Paramount’s president of global marketing and distribution, Marc Weinstock, was afraid marketing the teen comedy as a musical would turn audiences away.
“To start off saying musical, musical, musical, you have the potential to turn off audiences,” said Weinstock to Variety. “I want everyone to be equally excited.”
Mean Girls wasn’t the only recent release not marketed towards the showtune genre. Marketing teams for Wonka, as well as The Color Purple, used the same strategy to hide they were musicals. As said by Deadline, test-audience focus groups tend to shy away from musicals. By taking toe-tapping numbers away from a musical movie’s trailer, studios believe this will better the chances of wider audiences.
With critics sending more praise to Mean Girls than audiences, it could be that critics go into movies with no expectations. Audiences, on the other hand, may have expected to see a Mean Girls remake. Little did they know they’d be walking into multiple song-and-dance numbers.
