New Line Cinema’s Hairspray Makes Highest Grossing Box Office Debut Ever for a Musical Movie; Soundtrack From New Line Records Launches Into Billboard’s Top 5

LOS ANGELES – New Line Cinema’s Hairspray had a stellar debut in its opening weekend at the domestic box office, earning $27.5 million and marking the highest grossing box office debut ever for a musical movie. Since its nationwide release on July 20, the film has grossed more than $40 million.

New Line Records’ soundtrack to Hairspray sold 71, 625 units this week, boosting the album to #4 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, #1 on the Billboard Independent Label chart, #2 on the Billboard Soundtrack chart, and #2 on the Billboard Digital Album chart.

Sixteen years after the release of the original film, New Line Cinema brings a feature film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning Broadway production of Hairspray to life. Featuring new and original material based on John Waters’ 1988 cult classic about star-struck teenagers on a local Baltimore dance show, the comedy features a remarkable collection of talent including John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes, Allison Janney, Brittany Snow, Zac Efron, Elijah Kelley, director and choreographer Adam Shankman (Bringing Down The House), and producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Chicago). The new screenplay for Hairspray was written by Leslie Dixon (Freaky Friday, Outrageous Fortune).