Horror fans have been speculating for months now whether the controversy surrounding Scream 7 would impact the box office in a negative way, with many choosing to boycott the production in the wake of Melissa Barrera’s firing. That decision forced a pivot to putting the focus back on Sidney Prescott, with Neve Campbell scoring a massive payday in the process.
That paycheck was more than warranted, it would seem, as the Sidney-focused Scream 7 – directed by original Scream writer Kevin Williamson – is on track to break franchise records.
Variety reports this morning that Scream 7 scared up $7.8 million in Thursday night previews, a franchise record that far surpasses Scream VI‘s $5.7 million on preview night.
“The new movie is on track to make between $40 million and $50 million,” Variety notes in their pre-weekend report, “with some tracking services predicting it could go even higher.”
The franchise’s record for highest opening weekend is currently held by Scream VI, which opened to $44.4 million back in 2023 and went on to rake in $166.5 million worldwide.
Scream 7‘s monstrous Thursday night preview numbers suggest the film is about to scare up more than $44 million across this entire weekend, primed and ready to set that new weekend record. And it might even smash through the $166.5 million worldwide total of Scream VI.
The reported production budget for Scream 7 was $45 million, so it’s likely that by Monday we’ll be talking about the film making back its production budget in just the first few days.
There was a world in which the franchise was going to take a break after Scream 7, but that only would’ve been the case had the movie underperformed at the box office. Now that it’s likely to set a bunch of new records for the franchise, well, Scream 8 is looking a lot more likely.
Stay tuned for more on Scream 7 and the future of the slasher franchise.
