‘Scream 7’ Sets Franchise Box Office Record With $65 Million Debut

Ghostface’s still received it. “Scream 7,” the latest installment in Paramount and Spyglass Media’s long-running slasher collection, cemented a franchise report with $64.1 million in its home box workplace debut.

That’s a scary-good start for the 30-year-old property, and one that enormously improves upon the opening of 2023’s “Scream VI,” which beforehand held the home opening weekend benchmark with $44.4 million. “Scream 7” collected another $33.1 million abroad, bringing its global tally to $97.2 million. Although this entry carries the greatest funds of the collection at $45 million, it’ll simply flip a revenue in its theatrical run.

“This is sensational business,” says David A. Gross, who runs the film consulting agency Franchise Entertainment Research. “Smashing records is always good.”

“Scream 7” marks Paramount’s first No. 1 release in 12 months, since last March’s action comedy “Novocaine.” The box workplace win, after a protracted drought for the studio, comes days after Paramount shocked Hollywood by outbidding Netflix for management of Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount’s CEO David Ellison has promised the joint media behemoth would release more than 30 movies a yr — which might be the largest output of any studio by a large margin. However, trade executives and theater house owners are skeptical that Paramount will make good on its promise. They worry the media merger will result in fewer new movies on the big display screen, which may very well be catastrophic contemplating the movie show enterprise hasn’t recovered from the pandemic and 2023 labor strikes. Although revenues in 2026 are barely ahead of last yr’s tally, home ticket sales are down roughly 20% from pre-COVID instances.

“Scream 7” had a number of setbacks in the lead-up to its big display screen debut, beginning with the firing of 2022’s “Scream” reboot” and “Scream VI” star Melissa Barrera over social media posts that Spyglass considered as antisemitic. Then her co-star Jenna Ortega in addition to director Christopher Landon departed the project. A vocal backlash, including protests at last week’s premiere in Los Angeles, didn’t cease followers from displaying as much as theaters for “Scream 7” in droves. The movie benefitted from nostalgia — Neve Campbell, whose resilient heroine Sidney Prescott wasn’t in “Scream VI” on account of wage disputes, returned for this entry after securing an almost $7 million deal — in addition to the enduring recognition of horror.

“Scream” veteran Kevin Williamson directed the seventh installment, which follows a new Ghostface killer who targets Sidney Prescott’s daughter. (Talk about generational trauma!) Critics have been down on the movie while moviegoers have been blended, evidenced by the 34% on Rotten Tomatoes and “B-” grade on CinemaScore exit polls. Horror is thought to undergo steep second weekend declines, and with these marks, “Scream 7” won’t be immune to pitfalls of the style.

“For the young horror audience, sitting with friends in a packed dark room and being jolted by big, loud scares remains a strong draw,” Gross says.

Since “Scream 7” was this weekend’s only major newcomer, holdovers including Sony’s animated “GOAT” and the Warner Bros. adaptation of “Wuthering Heights” rounded out the North American charts.

“GOAT” secured second place with $12 million, a decline of just 29% in its third weekend of release. So far, the animated household movie has earned $73.9 million domestically. It value $80 million to supply. With minimal week-to-week drops, “GOAT” appears to be having fun with the same endurance to current authentic animated movies like “Elemental,” “The Wild Robot” and “Migration,” all of which managed to stay round in theaters for weeks after their debuts.

Third place went to “Wuthering Heights” with $6.5 million in its third outing, a 53% drop from the prior weekend. The movie has generated $72 million in North America. Warner Bros. spent $80 million to supply “Wuthering Heights,” not including the tens of tens of millions for the global promotional tour.

Elsewhere, Neon’s live performance movie “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert” collected $3.5 million while increasing to 1,940 theaters, boosting the home whole to $7.8 million. Director Baz Luhrmann crafted the movie from never-before-seen footage of the King of Rock and Roll that he found while making the 2022 Austin Butler-led “Elvis” biopic.

More to come back…