Paramount's MEAN GIRLS raked in a surprising $24.4M for the box office lead in its debut for weekend ended May 2, 2004. The teen comedy outpaced Fox's MAN ON FIRE, last week's leader powered by Denzel Washington a post 9/11 thirst for revenge, which took in $15M for a second place finish with $44.2M. Coming in third was Sony/Revolution's Jennifer Garner comedy, 13 GOING ON 30, which collected $9.8M for a cume of $35M. Debuting in fourth, fifth and sixth were Lions Gate's GODSEND, New Line's LAWS OF ATTRACTION and DreamWorks' ENVY with $6.8M, $6.7M and $6.1M, respectively. Miramax's KILL BILL VOL. 2 (with vfx by K.N.B. EFX Group) slipped to seventh with $5.8M and a total of $52.6M. Lions Gate's THE PUNISHER (with vfx by Fantasy II Film Effects) came in eighth with $3.4M and $29.7M. Finishing ninth was Disney's HOME ON THE RANGE with $2.3M and a cume of $45.5M. And Warner Bros.' SCOOBY-DOO 2: MONSTERS UNLEASHED (with vfx by Rhythm & Hues and Giant Killer Robots) held the 10th spot with $2.2M and a total of $79.6M. Box office information obtained from boxofficemojo.com.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
