NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� After a month at no. 1, has finally been overtaken at the box office. debuted with $30.6 million in ticket sales over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.
鈥淪cream,鈥� a self-described 鈥渞equel鈥� that is both the fifth film in the franchise and a reboot introducing a new, younger cast, led all releases over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. Paramount forecasts that it will total $35 million including Monday's grosses. 鈥淪cream,鈥� which cost about $24 million to make, added another $18 million in 50 international markets.
That made for a solid revival for the self-aware slasher franchise. Rights to the 鈥淪cream鈥� films, once a reliable cash cow for Harvey and Bob Weinstein's Miramax Films, were acquired by Spyglass Media Group, which produced the new film with Paramount. This 鈥淪cream," helmed by Matt Bettinello-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, was the first not directed by Wes Craven, . It features original 鈥淪cream鈥� cast members Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette alongside new additions Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega and Jack Quaid.
Most notably, 鈥淪cream鈥� is the first box-office success in a year that Hollywood hopes will see a return to weekly stability at movie theaters. January is typically a quiet period at the box office, but the surge of the omicron variant in COVID-19 has further upended release plans of some winter movies.
鈥淎ll of our traditional measures were indicating a solid opening, but as I kept telling people: We're still in this thing and it's very difficult to determine what will actually happen,鈥� said Chris Aronson, distribution chief for Paramount. "Now we're open, people have seen the movie and we're off and running. Hopefully this becomes another building block toward building the business back and getting it back to some semblance of normalcy."
Meanwhile, 鈥淪pider-Man: No Way Home鈥� slipped to second place but continued to rise in the record books.
鈥淣o Way Home鈥� grossed $20.8 million in its fifth weekend of release. Sony Pictures predicts that with another $5.2 million on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 鈥淣o Way Home鈥� will reach a domestic cumulative total of $703.9 million Monday, edging 鈥淏lack Panther鈥� and moving into fourth place all-time. That puts it behind only 鈥淎vatar鈥� ($760 million), 鈥淎vengers: Endgame鈥� ($858 million) and 鈥淪tar Wars: The Force Awakens鈥� ($936 million). Globally, 鈥淣o Way Home鈥� has grossed $1.6 billion.
Universal Pictures' landed in third place in its fourth weekend with $8.3 million over the three-day weekend. The animated sequel has grossed $122.1 million domestically and $96.3 million internationally.
While the debut of 鈥淪cream鈥� could be celebrated by Paramount, which postponed most of its top 2021 releases to 2022 (movies including 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick鈥� and 鈥淢ission Impossible 7"), its performance also typified current box-office realities. Superhero movies and genre films that appeal to younger audiences have bounced back to near pre-pandemic levels, while films skewing older haven't.
鈥淪cream,鈥� which received largely favorable reviews (81% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and a B+ CinemaScore from audiences, fared better than the last installment, 2011's 鈥淪cream 4." That film launched with $19.3 million. The audience for the new 鈥淪cream鈥� was 42% under the age of 25, Sony said. But any success needs to pull from various demographics, and 鈥淪cream鈥� also appealed to fans of the early franchise entries. Some 23% of ticket buyers were over 35.
The only other new widely released movie over the weekend was 鈥淏elle,鈥� It debuted with $1.6 million in 1,326 theaters.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore.
1. "Scream," $30.6 million.
2. 鈥淪pider-Man: No Way Home," $20.8 million.
3. 鈥淪ing 2,鈥� $8.3 million.
4. 鈥淭he 355,鈥� $2.3 million.
5. 鈥淭he King's Man,鈥� $2.3 million.
6. 鈥淏elle,鈥� $1.6 million.
7. 鈥淎merican Underdog,鈥� $1.6 million.
8. 鈥淲est Side Story,鈥� $948,000.
9. 鈥淟icorice Pizza,鈥� $880,000.
10. 鈥淭he Matrix Resurrections,鈥� $815,000.
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
