SIDNEY PRESCOTT AND GHOSTFACE TAKE DOWN NO WAY HOME
SIDNEY PRESCOTT AND GHOSTFACE TAKE DOWN NO WAY HOME, WHICH NEVERTHELESS CONTINUES TO RACK UP BIG NUMBERS ON THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND OF JANUARY 14-17, 2022.
Familiarity breeds contempt… except at the box office. These days, familiarity is what lures people out of their homes and into the theaters. That and an exclusivity away from streaming services, of course. The latter is likely what prevented The Matrix Resurrections from getting itself to at least $50 million before word-of-mouth and Omicron kept folks indoors to watch it on HBO Max. The latest entry in the Scream series appears it will only have to battle word-of-mouth, as its fans were eager for another taste of the knife over the holiday weekend.
KING OF THE CROP: SCREAM DETHRONES SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME WITH SOLID DEBUT
Scream (2022) or Scream 5, whichever you prefer, had one of the best Thursday previews for January ever, making $3.5 million. M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass made $3.7 million in 2019 and Bad Boys for Life made $6.3 million in 2020; two months before the pandemic began. A quarter century after the release of Wes Craven’s original, the 2022 chapter opened to $30.6 million, the 14th best January opening ever. Six of the higher January openings were also either sequels or the special edition of Star Wars. Scream’s $30.6 million is also the 15th best opening in general during the pandemic, a list populated by Marvel, sequels, Dune, and Jungle Cruise.
All things considered, this is a very good opening for the film. The last time they waited 11 years to produce a new entry, Scream 4 opened to $18.6 million in April 2011 and finished with just $38.1 million, a 2.04 multiple. Scream 3 opened to $34.6 million in February 2000 and had a 2.56 multiple up to $89.1 million. The first two films earned over $100 million, with the original having one of the best all-time December multiples of 16.21 after just a $6.3 million opening weekend. Aside from A Quiet Place Part II, no other horror film made it to $100 million last year. Halloween Kills came closest but suffered a historically bad fall after a $49.4 million start to earn just $92 million total. Old (2.86), Candyman (2.76), The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2.72), Spiral (2.65), and Malignant (2.46) all failed to hit the mark as well, so that may be one milestone this new entry won’t reach, even with a lack of any competition over the next two weeks. In fact, don’t be surprised if Spider-Man: No Way Home reclaims the throne during one if not both weeks. Still, a part five that could do double the business of the fourth film while Omicron remains a threat is not a bad thing for theaters.