Do you like horror movies? The rest of the box office does.
A co-production from Paramount and Spyglass, “Scream VI” is looking to knock “Creed III” off the top spot at the domestic box office. The self-branded “Resale” grossed $19.3 million from 3,675 locations on its opening day, a figure that includes $5.7 million in previews. That’s more than enough to fend off the weekend’s other new releases, Sony’s sci-fi dinosaur thriller “65” and Focus Features’ sports comedy “Heroes.”
“Scream VI” is already a few steps away from its 2022 predecessor, which grossed $13 million on its opening day. In fact, the “Scream” series has proven to be bigger than ever. If predictions hold, the sixth entry will bring in a franchise opening weekend record of $43.5 million, well above the $32 million earned by “Scream 2” in its 1997 bow.
After last year’s entry that grossed $137 million worldwide against a measured production budget of $24 million, executives were quick to hit the gas on a follow-up, turning in the sequel in just 14 months. It’s a fast-paced timeline in keeping with series lore — “Scream 2” followed the 1996 original “Scream” after a shorter run, totaling less than a year. Compared to the 2022 entry, “Scream VI” carries a slightly higher production price, at $35 million.
“Scream VI” sees a new murderous ghost set its sights in New York City, where the previous Woodsboro victims, played by Gina Ortega, Melissa Barrera, Mason Gooding, Jasmine Savoy Brown, and Courteney Cox, have been relocated. Tyler Gillette and Matt Bettinelli-Olbin are back to direct this entry after helming last year’s revamp, along with writers Jay Busiek and James Vanderbilt.
The horror film has received moderately positive reviews, currently holding a 62% approval rating from top critics on aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences were also a fan, as the film was given a “B+” grade by research firm Cinema Score. It’s a very positive rating, especially for a horror movie – a genre that tends to be more negatively skewed.
in his review, diverse Chief film critic Owen Gleiberman hailed the film as “a bloody, clever slasher game in all the right respects, staged and shot more aggressively than the previous film, eager to capitalize on its more expansive but closed-off setting”.
Columbia Pictures’ ’65, a sci-fi thriller that finds a space explorer played by Adam Driver stuck on prehistoric Earth, is looking forward to a third place opening. After earning $4.4 million on Friday, “65” is projecting an opening weekend of $10.7 million, which will be a mark above estimates heading into the weekend.
Bron and TSG co-financed the “65” project with Sony; The film carries a production budget of $45 million. With largely negative reviews and an unused “C+” grade on Cinema Score, the long-term domestic outlook isn’t the best for “65.”
Focus Features’ “Champions” is projecting a $4.7 million opening from 3,030 locations, which would put the film in seventh place. Directed by comedy maestro Bobby Farrelly, the film follows a disgraced coach (Woody Harrelson) who takes the helm of a basketball team vying for a spot in the Special Olympics. While “Heroes” didn’t score well with critics, the comedy received a glowing “A” from Cinema Score, indicating strong approval among ticket buyers.
While Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s “Creed III” would settle for second place, the film’s box office fortunes didn’t abate. The boxing drama, which marks the directorial debut of Michael Jordan, is projecting $26.7 million in its sophomore year, down 54% from its opening figures. This would push the gross domestic product to more than $100 million. It’s a solid result for the entry in the “Rocky” spinoff series, which carries a production budget of $75 million.
Fourth place seems to go to Disney’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” Marvel’s entry took in $1.7 million on Friday, down 46% from its figures last week. Now in its fourth weekend of release, “Quantumania” looks set to pass the $200 million mark at the domestic box office over the coming days. Whether the film will be able to match its predecessor’s 2018 North American total of $216 million is still up in the air.
Universal’s “Cocaine Bear” looks to near the top five on the domestic charts. The film is projecting a 43% decline since its sophomore release, pushing the domestic gross to $51 million as of Sunday.
