Scream Scares Up A Bloody Good $3.5 Million In Thursday Box Office Previews

After a month of having no competition at all for "Spider-Man: No Way Home" at the box office, a challenger has emerged, and it's horror to the rescue. The new "Scream" (which is weirdly not titled "Scream 5") had one heck of an opening night at the box office, especially considering the current Omicron surge, which paves the way for a big opening weekend. And movie theaters are certainly going to be more than happy to take that blood-soaked money.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, "Scream," directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett ("Ready or Not") took in $3.5 million in Thursday preview screenings. For comparisons in the pandemic era, "A Quiet Place Part II" took in $4.9 million in Thursday previews on its way to a stellar $47 million opening weekend. "Candyman," meanwhile, took in $1.9 million en route to a $22 million opening. In the franchise horror game, "Halloween Kills" took in $4.9 million on Thursday for a whopping $49 million opening. So, given that $3.5 million, we're probably looking at $30 million or so for the regular weekend, which is right in line with projections. However, Martin Luther King Day is on Monday so it is a long weekend, giving it an extra day to rake in the cash.

Word of mouth is on the movie's side, which is good. It currently boasts a 76% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, to go with a stellar 90% audience rating. This is firmly in the crowdpleaser category, not to mention that it's the first entry in the franchise in more than a decade.

Even though 2021 was a big improvement overall at the box office, things have been pretty uneven and difficult to predict. The only two sure things seem to be superhero movies and horror. The nice thing about horror is that it tends to cost much less, meaning these films don't have to make $1 billion to become a hit. In this case, with the budget estimated to be between $30 and $50 million, if it takes in $100 million worldwide it can probably be considered a hit. We'll see where the chips fall come Monday morning.

Neve Campbell (Sidney Prescott), Courteney Cox (Gale Weathers), and David Arquette (Dewey Riley) return to the franchise for the sequel. Melissa Barrera, Kyle Gallner, Mason Gooding, Mikey Madison, Dylan Minnette, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Marley Shelton, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Sonia Ammar also star.

"Scream" is in theaters now.

Twenty-five years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, a new killer has donned the Ghostface mask and begins targeting a group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town's deadly past.