Paramount/Spyglass’ “Scream 7” is on pace to earn the highest opening weekend ever for the 30-year-old horror franchise after earning a series-best $7.8 million from Thursday previews.
By comparison, “Scream VI” earned $5.7 million from previews in 2023 and went on to earn a $44.5 million opening weekend. Box office trackers have “Scream 7” beating that total and possibly rising above $50 million this weekend. The film has a $45 million production budget, up from $35 million for “Scream VI.”
After sitting out “Scream VI” over a pay dispute, Neve Campbell returned to the series she has been a part of since its inception in 1996 as Sidney Prescott, survivor of the infamous Ghostface killings. 30 years later, a new Ghostface targets Sidney’s daughter, Tatum.
Kevin Williamson, writer of three of the first four “Scream” films, made his series directorial debut with this installment after a previous version of “Scream 7” that would have been directed by Christopher Landon and starred “Scream” revival leads Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega fell apart. Barrera was fired by Spyglass from the series over her posts in support of Palestinians killed in Israeli military attacks conducted in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.
Despite the departure of the revival stars, presales have been strong among moviegoers of all demographics, showing the resilience of “Scream” since Paramount revived it four years ago. Critics are far more negative than they were for “Scream VI,” giving this installment a 37% Rotten Tomatoes score compared to 77% for its predecessor, but early audience reception is still leaning positive at 77% compared to 90% for “Scream VI.”