Do you like scary movies? The rest of the box office does.
Paramount’s “Scream VI” looks to spook off “Creed III” for the top slot at the domestic box office. The self-branded slasher re-quel 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 science-fiction dinosaur thriller “65” and Focus Features’ sports comedy “Champions.”
“Scream VI” is already a few steps ahead of its 2022 predecessor, which landed a $13 million opening day. In fact, the “Scream” franchise is bigger than ever. Should projections hold, the sixth entry will score a franchise record opening weekend of $43.5 million, a good deal higher than the $32 million that “Scream 2” earned in its 1997 bow.
“Scream VI” sees a new murderous Ghostface setting their sights on New York City, where former Woodsboro victims, played by Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, Mason Gooding, Jasmin Savoy Brown and Courteney Cox, have relocated. Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin returned to direct this entry after helming last year’s revamp, along with writers Guy Busick and James Vanderbilt.
The horror film has received fairly positive reviews, currently holding a 62% approval rating from top critics on review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. In his write-up, Variety chief film critic Owen Gleiberman praised the movie as a “gory homicidal shell game that’s clever in all the right ways, staged and shot more forcefully than the previous film, eager to take advantage of its more sprawling but enclosed cosmopolitan setting.”
More to come…
