The “Scream” That Finally Knocked Back “Spider-Man: No Way Home”

The weekend numbers have started coming in and Scream 5, the revival of an old slasher franchise, was able to knock back the impressively performing Spider-Man: No Way Home.

This article contains minor spoilers for Scream (or Scream 5). Be warned!

Spider-Man: No Way Home sure knew its way at the box office. The latest Sony/MCU film has broken a number of records and is projected to continue making money for the rest of the month. And while I enjoyed watching SM: NWH, I am happy to see Scream 5 debut at top of the box office. Considering Scream 5 is a jumpstart to more movies in the long-running franchise, the fans needed such a win.

According to Box Office Mojo, the reboot/sequel ended up collecting $30.6 million during the opening weekend. The projections state it should be able to collect around $35 million during the 4-day MLK weekend. While such a number is minuscule compared to SM: NWH, you should take note that the latest Scream film beat the 4-day MLK horror film opening record of Mama ($32.1M), during non-pandemic times back in 2013. So, all things considered, Scream 5 performed quite well and made a new record in the process.

The first Scream, directed by Wes Craven, came out in 1996. Scream 2 followed in 1997, with Scream 3 and Scream 4 coming out in 2000 and 2011, respectively. As a fan of the franchise, I was a bit worried about what to expect from the latest installment. I was excited about the original cast coming back, but Hollywood doesn’t have a stellar track record when it comes to reviving old franchises.

Having watched Scream 5, I have to say that it did the franchise justice. I liked how the old characters were balanced with new ones. The narrative gave us callbacks to the original film while adapting certain horror/slasher tropes for a modern audience. I would have liked the OG cast to be used more, of course. But there’s always next time, because it’s clear that this franchise can easily continue.

Scream 5 also had queer representation through Mindy (played by queer talent Jasmin Savoy Brown). And while I don’t want to spoil too much, let’s just say that Mindy was safe from a very popular trope when it comes to queer characters appearing in horror movies. It was also nice to see Mindy’s sexuality not being subtext. As the franchise’s first openly queer character, Mindy was well-written.

Coming in at second place at the box office was Spider-Man: No Way Home with a projected $26 million for the 4-day weekend. As of writing this, the movie has gone on to collect a whopping $1.625 billion globally. It will be very interesting to see if Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is able to meet or surpass these numbers.

Universal’s Sing 2 got third place with a projected $11 million. With a global haul of $215 million, Sing 2 is doing very well considering it was also released on PVOD on January 7, 2022.

Unfortunately, the female-led spy action flick The 355 just couldn’t find an audience at the box office. With a projected $2.8 million, the film has a current gross of $11 million against a reported $40-75 million production budget. Maybe it will do well when it hits streaming?

The R-rated prequel to The Kingman series hasn’t been faring well in the US either. Projected to make $3 million, the current domestic gross for The King’s Man is approximately $30 million. The worldwide gross is approximately $92 million. I’m a fan of The Kingsman franchise, but the prequel was just not it.

Even though it got 6th place, the PG-rated anime Belle performed impressively on fewer screens and is said to close the 4-day weekend with $2 million. The global total currently stands at $59.9 million.

From what I can tell, there are no big releases for the rest of the month. So, Scream 5 basically has an open field to make even more money. Yay! I want a Scream 6!

As far as my next trip to the multiplex is concerned, I’m looking forward to enjoying the Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson starring Moonfall. The Roland Emmerich directed sci-fi disaster movie will debut on February 4, 2022.

Did you watch Scream 5? What did you think of it?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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