5th "Scream" Film Opens at #1 during MLK Jr. Weekend

[JamesG]

Spider-Man Finally Meets his Match as Scream Scares Up a $30M #1 Debut
by Chris Nashawaty - Box Office News
Jan. 16, 2022


After a full month atop the charts and a string of shattered box-office records in its wake, Spider-Man: No Way Home was finally toppled from its box-office throne over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

The culprit: A reboot of (or sequel) the seemingly dead-and-buried Scream horror franchise, which seemed to gasp its last breath after the disappointing Scream 4 just over a decade ago. With returning stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette, the fifth Ghostface meta-chiller, simply titled Scream, scared up $30.6 million during its opening weekend and is projected to earn $35 million by the time the Monday holiday is factored in.







With a production budget of just $25 million, Paramount’s new Scream already appears to be in the black — or close to it. With its $30.6 million haul between Friday and Sunday, the R-rated film earned an $8,351 per-screen average in 3,664 theaters.

Internationally, the movie tacked on a negligible $310,000, bringing its worldwide three-day total to $30.9 million. Not surprisingly, it was younger audiences who turned out for the slasher sequel, with 67% of Scream’s audience falling into the 18-35 age demographic. Even with the ongoing COVID pandemic, the new Scream far exceeded its predecessor, Scream 4, which bowed to $18.7 million in April 2011.







In the runner-up spot was Sony’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, which raked in $20.8 million between Friday and Monday. It is projected to make $26 million by the end of the Monday holiday. In its fifth week of release, the PG-13-rated smash fell -36.2% from the previous frame and earned a $5,299 per-screen average at 3,925 locations.

Spidey’s North American total now stands at $698.7 million, putting it now in fourth place on the list of the highest-grossing domestic releases of all time. The three films still ahead of the Tom Holland-led blockbuster are 2009’s Avatar ($760.5 million), 2019’s Avengers: Endgame ($858.4 million), and 2015’s Star Wars: Episode VII --The Force Awakens ($936.7 million).







In third place was Universal’s Sing 2 with $8.3 million between Friday and Sunday. It is projected to finish the long weekend with $11 million. The PG-rated sequel dipped -28.7% from the prior frame.

Earning a $2,309 per-screen average in 3,581 theaters, the animated musical has collected $119.4 million to date. Sing 2 has added $96.3 million internationally so far, bringing its four-week global total to $215.7 million.

For comparison, the first Sing finished its run with $270.4 million domestically in 2016.







Finishing in fourth was Universal’s disappointing female-led thriller The 355 with an anemic $2.3 million between Friday and Sunday. In its sophomore weekend, the distaff espionage ensemble continued its slump, slipping 49.4% from the prior frame.

The PG-13-rated film is projected to pull in $2.8 million by the end of the long holiday weekend, only managing a $744 per-screen average in 3,125 theaters. Its two-week domestic box office total now stands at a brutal $8.4 million.

Overseas, the film has added $2.6 million to date, pushing its combined worldwide total to $11 million.







Barely edged out for fourth place was the weekend’s fifth-highest grosser, 20th Century Studios’ The King’s Man, which, like The 355, also finished with $2.3 million between Friday and Sunday, but had slightly lower numbers in the columns further to the right.

The R-rated origin story of the natty action franchise dropped -28.1% from the previous weekend and earned a $923 per-screen average in 2,510 theaters. It is projected to make $3 million by the end of Monday.

The King’s Man’s domestic box-office total now sits at $28.7 million. The movie has done more than double its North American business overseas, where it has rounded up $63.8 million, putting its cumulative global haul at $92.5 million.







Finally, finishing just outside of the running was the weekend’s only new debut of note. The anime import Belle bowed in sixth place. The PG-rated offering from GKIDS opened to $1.6 million between Friday and Monday, tallying a $1,241 per-screen average at 1,326 locations.

It is expected to make $2 million by the end of the four-day holiday weekend and has a 95% fresh rating with both critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.

The film, which chronicles the story of a teenage girl who enters a virtual world and becomes a singing sensation, has done solid business overseas, where it has already pulled in $58.3 million and counting.

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January 14-16, 2022: Weekend Studio Estimates

1. Scream $30,040,000
2. Spider-Man: No Way Home $20,100,000 / $698,024,074
3. Sing 2 $7,950,000 / $119,038,855
4. The 355 $2,260,000 / $8,337,505
5. The King's Man $2,233,000 / $28,597,614
6. Belle $1,645,800
7. American Underdog $1,594,000 / $21,061,238
8. West Side Story $942,000 / $33,761,804
9. Licorice Pizza $883,000 / $9,567,347
10. The Matrix Resurrections $823,000 / $35,824,000