Scream 6 looks to fare well against other entries in the franchise with a potential record-breaking box office opening for Ghostface.
Scream, the 1996 slasher, not only spawned a slew of other meta-style horror films in its wake, it’s proven to be a veritable box office juggernaut now six films in and counting with no signs of slowing down. And it looks like fans craving the murderous hijinks of the Woodsboro Killer have reached a new high, as Scream 6 is set to have the strongest debut of any entry in the film series.
Per Variety, Scream 6 is projected to gross at least $35 million and possibly as high as $40 million in its opening weekend. Scream 6 reportedly cost $35 million to produce, so it’s already set to recoup its cost this weekend if early estimates prove correct. Certified fresh according to Rotten Tomatoes, Scream 6 is already a big hit with critics. However, the studio behind the latest entry in the seventeen-year-old franchise, Paramount, looks to see how it will do with audiences. Fans turned out in droves for the fifth entry in 2022, titled Scream, in homage to itself, and it started strong at $30 million on its opening weekend, earning $5 million more than its $25 million budget.
It's a boon for a franchise that brought back the classic trio of Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette as Sidney Prescott, Gail Weathers, and Dewey Riley, respectively, for the fifth outing. Scream (2022) tried to smooth over the speedbump of the loss of franchise starter and director Wes Craven, who not only brought the world the famous A Nightmare on Elm Street series but ushered the first four Scream entries into the world as well. It also used its running time to introduce a new cast of characters, including scream queen Jenna Ortega, amongst the continuing cast members for the sixth entry in the slasher-that-knows-it’s-a-slasher series.
The Scream 6 marketing kicked things up by hiring real actors to portray the Ghostface Killer and having them ominously pop up in public locations, prompting some passersby to call the police in case a real murderer inspired by the movie murderers was acting out. Scream 6 sees the survivors from the last couple of Woodsboro massacres leaving for the immense anonymity of New York. However, the big city doesn’t provide enough coverage when a new Ghostface who isn’t afraid of guns comes calling. And it looks like Scream 6, without Neve Campbell for the first time in the franchise, will take a bite out of the Big Apple and the box office, too.
Scream 6 opens in theaters on March 10, 2023.
Source: Variety