Scream 7 has chased down a major box office record.
Thirty years after the first Scream movie thrilled audiences, Scream 7 has launched with a strong opening. The new sequel brings back several original cast members from the 1996 film, including Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, and Matthew Lillard.
According to Deadline, Scream 7 earned an impressive $7.5 million at the box office during preview showings on Thursday night. This is a new record for the series, beating the previous high of $5.7 million set by Scream VI in 2023.
Thursday night previews weren’t typical before 2011, but the recent Scream movies have all used them. Scream 7 follows this pattern, earning significantly more in previews than the previous film in the series.
I’m really hoping this movie does even better than expected! Early numbers suggest it could go beyond the $40-$45 million we thought it’d make over the opening weekend, which would be amazing – it’d be the biggest debut ever for this series! If you’re curious how the other movies have done, check out this look at the franchise’s box office history so far.
| Title | Domestic Previews | Domestic Debut | Worldwide Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scream (1996) | N/A | $6.3 million | $173 million |
| Scream 2 (1997) | N/A | $32.9 million | $172.4 million |
| Scream 3 (2000) | N/A | $34.7 million | $161.8 million |
| Scream 4 (2011) | N/A | $18.7 million | $96 million |
| Scream (2022) | $3.5 million | $30 million | $138.8 million |
| Scream VI (2023) | $5.7 million | $44.4 million | $169.1 million |
| Scream 7 (2026) | $7.5 million | $40-45 million (proj.) | TBD |
The new movie’s success at the box office is uncertain due to several factors. A major challenge is the controversy surrounding the firing of actress Melissa Barrera, who previously starred in Scream (2022) and Scream VI. Her dismissal, following posts she made on social media expressing support for Palestine, has sparked calls for a boycott of Scream 7.
Plus, Scream VI benefited from being shown in 3D, which allowed for higher ticket prices. Scream 7, however, didn’t have that advantage and has received mostly poor reviews, earning a low 37% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
One of the movie’s strengths is that it’s the first in the series shown in IMAX and ScreenX – formats that usually cost more for tickets. It’s also available on other large, premium screens. Interestingly, audiences seem to love it much more than critics, giving Scream 7 a high 76% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
It’s still too early to know how successful Scream 7 will be globally, but its strong opening night suggests it will easily cover its $45 million production cost by the end of the weekend. This puts the film on course to reach its break-even point of around $112.5 million soon.
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2026-02-27 18:30