Scream 7 Sets Franchise Record

Debut caps a good week for Paramount
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 1, 2026 12:30 PM CST
Scream 7 Outdoes the First 6
This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Neve Campbell in a scene from "Scream 7."   (Paramount Pictures via AP)

Thirty years after the original slasher movie opened in theaters, Scream is still making a killing. Scream 7 debuted with a franchise-best $64.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The bigger-than-expected opening is a win for Paramount, which on Friday announced its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, the AP reports. In a sluggish 2026 at the box office, the latest installment managed the best debut of the year, easily displacing last weekend's champ, the Stephen Curry-produced animated film GOAT, from Sony Pictures.

Scream 7, which cost $45 million to make, got a boost from the return of Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott. She sat out 2023's Scream VI but was drawn back for the seventh film by a reported $7 million payday. Original cast members Courteney Cox, David Arquette, and Matthew Lillard co-star. Scream VI had set a new high (not accounting for inflation) for the franchise with a $44.4 million launch. Kevin Williamson, who wrote the 1996 original and many of the following chapters, stepped in to direct, retooling the film around Campbell and company. Reviews were poor (34% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), and audience scores (a "B-" CinemaScore) also weren't great.

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

  1. Scream 7, $64.1 million.
  2. GOAT, $12 million.
  3. Wuthering Heights, $7 million.
  4. Twenty One Pilots: More Than We Ever Imagined, $3.7 million.
  5. EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, $3.5 million.
  6. Crime 101, $3.4 million.
  7. I Can Only Imagine 2, $3.1 million.
  8. Send Help, $2.8 million.
  9. How to Make a Killing, $1.6 million.
  10. Zootopia 2, $1.4 million.

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