The good news continues for David Ellison’s Paramount less than 24 hours after learning the path has been cleared for the company to buy Warner Bros. Discovery in a deal that has left Hollywood rocked to its core.
Despite a franchise-low critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, Scream 7 scored a franchise-best $7.8 million in previews, surpassing previous record-holder Scream VI ($5.7 million) and proving once again why some genres are, to a large degree, review-proof.
From Spyglass Media and Paramount, the film expands everywhere today, and will be playing in 3,540 theaters in North America. Overseas, it is rolling out in 52 markets, including Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom, with seven additional markets to follow. (The series does best in English-speaking markets.)
Paramount is forecasting a $40 million launch for the the slasher pic, which would mark the best three-day launch of the year to date. Tracking is more bullish, with the National Research Group projecting $45 million. If the leading firm is right, that would supplant Scream VI, which launched to $44.4 million in March 2023, as the top opening of the series not adjusted for inflation.
The big wild card is audience scores. As long as they aren’t as bad as the reviews, the pic shouldn’t be murdered by poor word of mouth, although studios generally like to see an audience score of 80 percent and above. As of Friday morning, the Rotten Tomatoes audience score is 76 percent, but it’s still early. The RT critics’ score sits at 37 percent.
Globally, Scream 7 is targeting a $60 million global launch.
The pic sees Neve Campbell return to the iconic series in the role of Sidney after sitting out Scream VI because of a salary dispute after appearing in every film up to that point.
Kevin Williamson, who wrote the script for the original Scream, Scream 2 and Scream 4, directs the seventh installment. The story follows Sidney as she returns to her hometown with her daughter (Isabel May), who soon cross paths with a new Ghostface killer. The girl is named Tatum, the same name of Rose McGowan’s character in the 1996’s Scream who was murdered.
A trailer released in October focused on Ghostface targeting Sidney and Tatum, with Sidney teaching her daughter the rules of surviving the brutal killer. Another ad played during the Super Bowl, underscoring how important the franchise is to David Ellison and his new regime at Paramount. In addition to Campbell, original star Courteney Cox returns as reporter Gale Weathers.
Spyglass fully produced the movie, with Paramount co-financing half of the net $45 million budget.
Scream 7 has a secret weapon in its arsenal — it will be the first installment to play in Imax. It is also playing across all other premium formats.
While Campbell’s return marks a highly anticipated moment for fans, two stars of the revival films Scream (2022) and Scream VI will not be back. Melissa Barrera was fired from Scream 7 because of her social media posts about the Israel-Hamas war. Jenna Ortega had already left the film voluntarily before the firing, though it was not made public until after. Christopher Landon, who was set to direct the horror sequel, also exited amid intense fan backlash after Barrera’s firing, despite not being the one to fire the actress.
Other franchise stars returning include David Arquette as Dewey Riley, completing the legacy trio alongside Sidney and Gale. Matthew Lillard, one of the original co-Ghostface killers, is coming back as Stu Macher, as well as Scott Foley, Scream 3‘s Ghostface Roman Bridger — Sidney’s half-brother. Siblings Chad and Mindy, played by Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are also in Scream 7.
