Paramount’s Scream is scaring up strong business in its box office opening, earning $13.4 million on Friday from 3,664 theaters for a projected weekend debut north of $30 million, based on early projections.
If estimates bear out, the reboot of the classic horror franchise created by the late Wes Craven should gross roughly $31 million for the three-day weekend and as much as $36 million for the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend despite the omicron variant, which is dampening moviegoing overall.
Scream will have no trouble winning the holiday as billion-dollar blockbuster Spider-Man: No Way Home falls to No. 2 in its fifth weekend. Both films are fueled by younger males, who have been the most inclined to return to theaters.
Sony and Marvel’s No Way Home may be relinquishing the top spot, but it is not to be discounted. The film will claim another milestone this weekend when crossing the $700 million mark domestically, a feat achieved by only a handful of films. The superhero pic grossed $5.2 million on Friday for a projected three-day gross of $22 million and $27 million-$28 million for the four days.
From Paramount and Spyglass, Scream opens more than 25 years after Craven’s original. The new film is the fifth title in the series and is a direct sequel to 2011’s Scream 4.
Audiences gave the new Scream a B+ CinemaScore, a good grade for a slasher pic. It also is drawing strong exits.
Matt Bettinello-Olpin and Tyler Gillett share directing duties. This time, the Scream team sees franchise mainstays, Courteney Cox and Neve Campbell, along with Marty Shelton, David Arquette, Skeet Ulrich, Heather Matarazzo and Roger L. Jackson, reprise their roles, while newcomers include Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, Mason Gooding, Dylan Minnette and Jack Quaid.
Scream follows a new Ghostface-masked killer who pursues a group of teenagers trying to learn about the town’s past.
