'Mean Girls' dominated the weekend box office even as some moviegoers were 'disappointed' to discover it was a musical

• "Mean Girls" had a splashy box office debut, earning $28.7 million in its first three days.
• Its studio deemphasized that it was a musical in marketing to avoid repelling certain moviegoers.
• While most ticket buyers knew it was a musical, some were "disappointed" by the genre, per Variety.

"Mean Girls" arrived at No. 1 at the North American box office this weekend, earning $28.7 million in its first three days and $33.2 million for the four-day stretch into the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, according to studio estimates.