Neve Campbell in “Scream 7.”
Paramount Pictures
The slasher sequel Scream 7, starring Neve Campbell, is taking a much bigger slice of the box office pie than anticipated.
Campbell returns to the Scream franchise after sitting out Scream VI due to a pay dispute. Now, after getting a reported $7 million payday for her return, it appears that Paramount Pictures’ investment to bring the franchise star back into the fold was money well spent.
Directed by Kevin Williamson, who wrote the original Scream movie in 1996, Scream 7 finds Campbell’s Sidney Prescott confronting her traumatic past once again. This time around, the Ghostface killer is taking aim at Tatum (Isabel May), who at 17 is the same age as her mother was in the 1996 original.
Scream is projected by Deadline to earn $28 million on Friday — including $7.8 million in previews on Thursday — on its way to an opening weekend of $59 million from 3,540 theaters domestically. In the days leading up to the film’s release, Scream 7 was projected by both Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter to make about $40 million domestically in its first three days, while the National Research Group (via THR) pegged a $45 million opening.
Now, with an estimated $59 million take in its opening frame, Scream 7 is poised to put all pre-release projections to shame. The good news for the film’s home, Paramount Pictures, is that, per Variety, Scream 7 had a $45 million production budget before marketing costs, which is a relatively modest amount for any studio-backed picture.
‘Scream 7’ Should Easily Top The Franchise Record Set By ‘Scream VI’
Even if Scream 7’s projected $59 million takes a dip, it will still easily beat the domestic box office opening of Scream VI, which earned a franchise record $44.4 million in its opening weekend from 3,675 North American theaters in 2023.
Scream VI had a $35 million production budget before marketing, Variety reported. Released in March 2023, Scream VI went on to earn $169 million globally — $108.3 million of that from North American theaters.
In addition to Neve Campbell, Scream 7 includes the return of legacy character Gail Weathers (Courteney Cox), and creatively finds a way to incorporate such deceased franchise characters as Dewey Riley (David Arquette), Roman Bridger (Scott Foley), Debbie Salt (Laurie Metcalf) and Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard).
Roger L. Jackson, who has provided the phone voice of Ghostface (Hellooo … Sidney!) since the beginning of the Scream franchise in 1996, brings his menacing pipes back for another go-round as the malevolent masked slasher.
Also starring Anna Camp, Michelle Randolph, Jimmy Tatro, Mckenna Grace, Asa Germann, Celeste O’Connor, Sam Rechner, Ethan Embry, Mark Consuelos, Tim Simons and Joel McHale, Scream 7 is new in theaters nationwide.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/timlammers/2026/02/27/scream-7-blows-past-projections-eyes-59-million-opening-weekend/
