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The sequel is projected to earn $35 million
over the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, a
spectacular result considering that "Scream" only cost $25
million to produce. It also represents some positive news for
the bruised and battered cinema industry, considering that
"Scream's" success comes amid a spike in COVID-19. It helps that
"Scream's" target demographic is younger, which means that they
may not have been as spooked by the highly contagious omicron
variant that is fueling the latest iteration of a seemingly
endless pandemic. Paramount and Spyglass Media backed the
reboot, which marks the first new chapter in the "Scream" series
in a decade and shares a title with the 1996 original -- the
"Scream" saga is apparently so over integers. The film also
brings back familiar faces such as Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox
and David Arquette, who are once again haunted by a serial
killer in a Ghostface mask. "Scream" debuted in 3,664 locations.
And while Sony's "Spider-Man: No Way Home" was forced to
surrender its box office crown for the first time since it
opened in December, the superhero sequel still managed to put up
some superb results. The film is projected to have a four-day
result of $26 million. With more than $700 million in the bank,
"Spider-Man: No Way Home" will now become the fourth-highest
grossing domestic release in history, behind only "Avatar" ($760
million), "Avengers: Endgame" ($858 million) and "Star Wars: The
Force Awakens" ($936 million). The popularity of the film is so
out-sized that it was even name-checked during "SNL" this
weekend with President Biden urging people to stop seeing
"Spider-Man" in order to check the spread of omicron.
The opening weekend result for "Scream" is in the neighborhood
of the inaugural results for other pandemic era horror hits such
as "Halloween Kills" ($49.4 million debut and "A Quiet Place
Part II" ($47.5 million). It also represents a major improvement
on 2011's "Scream 4" which opened to a dispiriting $19.3
million. Unlike other movies released during COVID, "Scream's"
low budget means it will have some impressive profit margins --
films like "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" and "No
Time to Die" have led the box office, but their high cost meant
they lost money during their theatrical releases at a time when
ticket sales are depressed.
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett direct "Scream," taking
over the series from its founder Wes Craven, the horror maestro
who died in 2015. Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid and
Dylan Minnette round out the cast of the horror sequel.
Universal and Illumination Entertainment's "Sing 2" captured
third place on the domestic box office chart, earning $8.3
million. The film is projected to earn $11 million over the
four-day holiday, which will bring its haul to $122.1 million.
Another Universal release, "The 355," nabbed fourth place,
earning $2.3 million. The spy thriller is a commercial dud. It
will end the four-day weekend with $2.8 million, which will
bring its haul to a disastrous $8.9 million. Don't hold your
breath for "The 356."
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