In addition to taking the No. 1 spot on the North American box office chart, the fifth installment in the meta-horror film series has received solid audience and critical reception.
- Jan 17, 2022
AceShowbiz - "Scream" has claimed the No. 1 box office spot this weekend, dated January 14 to 16. The Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media horror film finally dethrones "Spider-Man: No Way Home" after the Marvel entry's four-week reign on the chart.
The horror sequel, co-directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, tops the chart with an estimated robust $30.6 million from 3,664 theaters for the three-day domestic weekend and will likely hit $35 million for the long Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. Overseas, the fifth installment in the horror film franchise grossed approximately $18 million from 50 markets as the U.K. leads with $3.4 million.
"This opening has reinvigorated the franchise for fans, while simultaneously introducing it to a whole new generation of new 'Scream' fans," beamed Paramount's domestic theatrical distribution boss Chris Aronson. "We've heard anecdotally that people have seen the film more than once or are planning to see it multiple times."
The new "Scream" is the first film in the overall franchise to not be directed by Wes Craven, who passed away in 2015. Of the film, which has received solid audience and critical reception with a B+ on CinemaScore to go with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 75% critics and 85% audience, Neve Campbell said that the directors and the new film both deeply honor Wes' legacy.
"We'd been apprehensive about doing it without Wes just because he was the master and the reason these movies are as fantastic as they are," the 48-year-old actress shared. "But Matt and Tyler wrote us a letter expressing that they became directors because of Wes Craven and that they made 'Ready or Not' because of the 'Scream' movies and that they could not believe they were having the opportunity to even write us the letters and make these movies."
The new "Scream" had a three-day opening in the same range as the franchise's previous entries. "Scream 2" opened to $32.9 million back in 1997. "Scream 3" made $34.7 in 2000, while "Scream 4" couldn't crack $20 million in 2011.
Though "Scream" has ended "Spider-Man: No Way Home" box office domination, that doesn't stop the Marvel film, starring Tom Holland and Zendaya Coleman, from passing $700 million domestically. According to The Numbers, the gross of the third solo Spider-Man film for the three-day weekend was the ninth-highest earning ever for a movie in its fifth week of wide release.
Over the weekend, "Spider-Man: No Way Home" earns an estimated $20.8 million in receipts, followed by "Sing 2" at No. 3 with approximately $8.3 million. Meanwhile, "The King's Man" trails behind at No. 4 with roughly $2.34 million. "The 355" occupies at No. 5 with an estimated $2.32 million.
"Belle" takes the No. 6 spot after earning an approximate $1.65 million with "American Underdog" following behind at No. 7 with roughly $1.6 million. As for "West Side Story", the movie is at No. 8 with an estimated $948,000.
In the meantime, "Licorice Pizza" moves down to No. 9 with an approximate $883,000. Rounding out the Top 10 is "Ghostbusters: Afterlife", which is at No. 10 with roughly $815,000.
Top 10 of North America Box Office (Jan. 14-16, 2022):
- "Scream" - $30.6 million
- "Spider-Man: No Way Home" - $20.8 million
- "Sing 2" - $8.3 million
- "The King's Man" - $2.34 million
- "The 355" - $2.32 million
- "Belle" - $1.65 million
- "American Underdog" - $1.6 million
- "West Side Story" - $948,000
- "Licorice Pizza" - $883,000
- "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" - $815,000
