January, like most years, has been a very dry month for new releases, and it is usually where studios throw awful films they have no confidence in. However, Scream has managed to break that trend and use this empty month to its killer advantage. Even though Spider-Man: No Way Home reclaimed the top spot at the box office this weekend, after a bloody impressive opening weekend, this fifth installment of this iconic slasher series managed to gross another $12.4 million. Because of this, the film crossed $50 million domestically with $51.4 million thus far. On top of that, the film has made an additional $10 million overseas to bring its international total to $33.6 million and Scream now has an overall worldwide box office total of $84.9 million in its two weeks of release.
The reason this film’s domestic total is so significant is that not only has Scream surpassed Scream 4’s entire domestic run, it has completely destroyed it. At the $51 million mark it leaves Scream 4’s $38.1 million gross left for dead. The new Scream managed to slash past that number in just two weeks and with the film’s box office numbers dropping 58% from weekend 1 to 2, it will be interesting to see what kind of legs this horror film will continue to have. It is also only a matter of time until it passes Scream 4’s entire box office run which made $97.2 million worldwide. Scream will most likely be the first film in the franchise to make $100 million worldwide since Scream 3 all the way back in 2000.
It will not catch the worldwide totals of the first 3 films as they made $173 million, $172 million, and $161 million respectively, but there is still a slim chance it could cross $100 million domestically which has not been seen in the franchise since Scream 2 in 1997. However, no matter where this film ends up money-wise, this is a huge success for Paramount Pictures/Spyglass Media Group, and it is a big win for the horror genre as a whole. At a reported budget of only $24 million, Scream has more than made its money back and a sequel is inevitable at this point
This is also just a major win for theaters as we are still in this odd period where films are continuing to get delayed because of the ongoing pandemic. In a time when other horror films like Halloween Kills had a same-day theater and streaming release, Scream reminded us that horror belongs on the big screen and people are still willing to go out and see these movies in theaters.
Its success will be overshadowed by Spider-Man, but Scream could end up being the story of the little murderous engine that could. This is the power of good word of mouth and this is what happens when you get the right creators to continue a historic franchise. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett made a film that beautifully honored Wes Craven, took emotional risks, and was just an entertaining horror story full of suspenseful carnage. All this is reflected in the film's success story at the box office.
Scream crossing the $50 million mark domestically and hitting $84 million worldwide should not go unnoticed and for all the latest box office news regarding this blood-soaked sequel, stick with Collider.