The good news continues for Paramount as Scream 7 blew past all expectations at the domestic box office, where the Spyglass Media pic opened to a franchise-best $64.1 million domestically and $33.1 million overseas for a global start of $97.2 million. In North America, it’s the biggest launch ever for a horror title going out in February and the biggest debut of 2025 so far, not adjusted for inflation.
Friday’s haul of $28.8 million includes $7.8 million in Thursday previews, which began just as David Ellison’s Paramount-Skydance learned the path has been cleared for the company to buy Warner Bros. Discovery in a deal that has left Hollywood rocked to its core after Netflix stepped away. The merger — which would mark be the biggest leveraged buyout in history — is bittersweet for many since it will see the number of legacy Hollywood studios dwindle from five to four and result in massive layoffs across film, television and corporate operations.
Back to Scream 7. The droves of moviegoers rushing to see the pic prove once again why many genre titles are generally review-proof. The pic — whose major coup was getting Neve Campbell to return after sitting out the last installment — currently sits at a series-worst 33 percent critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, but the RT audience score is a good-enough 78 percent (studios generally want to see 80 percent and above). And it earned a B- CinemaScore; its predecessors likewise earned some variation of a B, which is a high grade for a horror title.
The demo breakdown couldn’t be better. The male split and females was relatively narrow, while the audience was notably diverse. Gen Zers of all ages and younger Millennials turned out in force.
While Ellison’s hand-picked Paramount Pictures co-chairs Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein inherited the Spyglass project, they, along with newly installed marketing head Josh Goldstine, successfully carried it over the finish line. Spyglass fully produced the movie, with Paramount co-financing half of the net $45 million budget.
Heading into the weekend, Paramount was forecasting a $40 million launch for the slasher pic, which would have still marked the best three-day launch of the year to date. Tracking was more bullish, with the National Research Group projecting $45 million. As of now, Scream VI, which launched to $44.4 million in March 2023, is the record-holder for the series’ top opener, not adjusted for inflation.
Scream 7 has another secret weapon in its arsenal — it will be the first installment to play in Imax. It is also booked across all other premium formats. Combined, they are ponying up 40 percent of the grosses. Imax doesn’t generally turn over most of its footprint to a horror title, but the 2026 pipeline to date has been relatively sparse when it comes to event studio product.
Kevin Williamson, who wrote the script for the original Scream, Scream 2 and Scream 4, directs the seventh installment. The story follows Sidney (Campbell) as she returns to a small town with her daughter (Isabel May), only to soon cross paths with a new Ghostface killer. The girl is named Tatum, the same name as 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 the new regime at Paramount. In addition to Campbell, original star Courteney Cox returns as reporter Gale Weathers.
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.
Among holdovers, Sony Picture Animated’ GOAT looks to gross $11 million to $12 million for a second-place finish as it finally pulls safely ahead of Warner Bros.’ Wuthering Heights, which is aiming for $7 million to $8 million. (Both titles are in their third weekend.)
After that, it is anybody’s guess where the next four movies will land, since they are all estimated to earn in the $3 million to $3.5 million range: the new concert doc Twenty Pilots: I Can’t Believe This is My Life, which is booked in more than 770 cinemas, including select Imax runs; Amazon MGM’s holdover Crime 101; Lionsgate’s I Can Only Imagine 2; and Baz Luhrmann‘s EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert.
From leading indie outfit Neon, Luhrmann’s pic is expanding nationwide this weekend after opening to a strong $3.3 million from 325 Imax runs a week ago. It is now playing in 1,608 locations, and received a coveted A+ CinemaScore from audiences on Friday after already earning glowing reviews. It opens four years after the filmmaker’s acclaimed biopic Elvis, starring Austin Butler, became the talk of the town.
Feb. 25, 7:20 a.m.: Updated with revised estimates.
This story was originally published Feb. 27 at 8:59 a.m.
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