NEW YORK \u2014 \u201cScream\u201d is still making a killing.<\/p>\n
Thirty years after the original slasher movie opened in theaters, “Scream 7”<\/a> debuted with a franchise-best $64.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The bigger-than-expected opening is a win for Paramount, which on Friday announced its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. <\/a><\/p>\n In a so-far sluggish 2026 at the box office, “Scream 7” managed the best debut of the year, easily displacing last weekend’s champ, the Stephen Curry-produced animated film “GOAT,”<\/a> from Sony Pictures.<\/p>\n \u201cScream 7,\u201d which cost $45 million to make, got a boost from the return of Neve Campbell, as Sidney Prescott. The actor sat out 2023\u2019s \u201cScream VI,\u201d but was drawn back for the seventh film by a reported $7 million payday. Original cast members Courteney Cox, David Arquette and Matthew Lillard also co-star.<\/p>\n “Scream VI” had set a new high (not accounting for inflation) for the franchise with a $44.4 million launch. That film starred Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, along with series regulars. But in 2023, Barrera was dropped from the seventh film<\/a> by the film’s production company, Spyglass Media Group, after making comments on the Israel-Hamas war<\/a> that some deemed antisemitic. Ortega subsequently dropped out of the film.<\/p>\n Kevin Williamson, who wrote the 1996 original and many of the following chapters, stepped into direct, retooling the film around Campbell and company. In the film, Sidney and her 17-year-old daughter are haunted by Ghostface in the suburban community of Pine Grove.<\/p>\n Reviews were poor (34% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and audience scores (a \u201cB-\u201d CinemaScore) also weren\u2019t great.<\/p>\n But the overperformance of “Scream 7,” which added $33.1 million overseas, gave Paramount more to celebrate on a potentially historic weekend for the studio. On Friday, its parent company, Paramount Skydance, announced its intention to merge with Warner Bros. Discovery after Netflix dropped out of negotiations. The deal, which forms a Hollywood colossus<\/a> and remakes the media landscape, awaits regulatory approval.<\/p>\n For Josh Goldstine, president of global marketing and distribution at Paramount, the launch of \u201cScream 7\u201d signaled a new beginning for Paramount, which last year completed an $8 billion merger with David Ellison’s Skydance. Following that merger, Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, co-chairs, took the reigns of Paramount Pictures.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the first time that the new Paramount team has gotten their arms around a movie, not necessarily from the production side but from the marketing and distribution side,\u201d said Goldstine. \u201cIt’s really an exciting time for the new Paramount.\u201d<\/p>\n Goldstine declined to address the merger with Warner Bros. But he attributed the success of \u201cScream 7\u201d \u2014 the rare franchise to keep growing so many films in \u2014 to the studio’s commitment to exhibition. In opposing Netflix’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, Ellison trumpeted the studio’s dedication to theatrical, pledging a minimum 45-day theatrical window for films.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s really about the passion for the theatrical marketplace that exists at Paramount right now and the desire that we wanted to show the culture and the world why we love, and what we can do, with theatrical movies,\u201d Goldstine said of the \u201cScream 7\u201d opening.<\/p>\n \u201cScream 7\u201d benefited significantly from IMAX screens and premium format screens, something no previous \u201cScream\u201d movie had on opening. Shaun Barber, head of domestic distribution for Paramount, noted that 40% of the film’s business over the weekend was on premium format screens.<\/p>\n \u201cThe film\u2019s success speaks to the strength of the brand and Ghostface\u2019s staying power as an iconic villain,\u201d said Barber. \u201cWhen you put that on the biggest screens in the country, audiences are even more excited to watch it together.”<\/p>\n