‘Scream’ 2022 Set To Surpass 2011’s Scre4m’s Entire US Box Office Record

THE US box office tally for Scream 2022 is already set to surpass the entire domestic take of its 2011 predecessor Scream 4.

More than a decade on from the previous sequel and seven years after Scream co-creator Wes Craven passed away, the game-changing slasher series is once again making waves at the box office, despite the now typical smaller audience numbers due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Fans have been incredibly eager to see the film, which was directed by filmmaking duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.

While the first Scream film was met with somewhat unexpected box office and critical success, each subsequent film has produced slightly diminishing returns. Surprisingly, despite Scream 3 being widely regarded as the worst of the franchise, its international gross does not constitute the series’ lowest box office numbers.

That rather unfortunate honor goes to Scre4m – a fact that strikes many Scream fans as grossly unfair considering that it is often cited as being a vast improvement compared to the previous movie. Screenwriter Kevin Williamson had sat out for Scream 3, making it the only film in the series besides Scream 2022 he didn’t pen. The resulting disappointment that many Scream fans consider the third film to be was made up for when Williamson returned for Scre4m, but somehow that wasn’t enough for big box office returns.

Now with the success that Scream 2022 is experiencing, it seems the film is also set to eclipse Scre4m – at least in terms of US domestic box office numbers.

According to Variety, Scream’s positive response has resulted in an impressive first week for the film. The real challenge now for the movie is maintaining that success through its second weekend, where stiff competition from Spider-Man: No Way Home remains a constant.

Yet regardless of whether or not Scream can outpace Spider-Man, it does look as though the film will triumph over Scre4m’s entire $38.2 million domestic box office run by weekend’s end.

Scream 2022 earned $34 million in its opening week and is currently projected to add another $11.7 million to this tally over the weekend. That will certainly put it well ahead of Scre4m, though it remains uncertain if the new sequel can continue to build on its formidable box office presence in the days and weeks to come before its streaming release on February 28.

Horror films typically perform strongly in their opening week, only to steadily decline in subsequent weeks. This is arguably even more likely with a film like Scream due to its highly secretive plots that can easily be spoiled, dissuading other would-be viewers from making the trek to theaters and waiting instead for the streaming release.

For Scream fans, however, the box office results ultimately don’t matter all that much. Ever since confirmation of a fifth entry in the series first became official, the biggest hope was that it would be worthy of everything that Craven had worked so hard to establish over the years.

While the franchise’s legacy may have not always lived up to the brilliance of the first entry, the fact that Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett have potentially kicked off a new era with Scream 2022 means more to any die-hard Scream fan than huge box office numbers ever could.

Scream was theatrically released in the United States on January 14, 2022, by Paramount Pictures. The film has grossed over $86 million and was praised by critics as honoring Craven’s legacy and offering thoughtful meta-commentary on horror films, with some calling it the best of the Scream sequels.

(source: screenrant.com)

(ROHN ROMULO)