So much for the Rotten Tomatoes.. the bad reviews.. the critics be damned. SCREAM 7 has made enough money that people are now clamoring for a SCREAM 8!
The film is expected to scare up around $60 million by the end of the weekend, far surpassing Scream VI’s franchise best opening weekend of $44 million.
Scream 7 also saw the best opening day/previews for the franchise at $28.8M.
Pre-sale tickets happening before review embargo was lifted most likely helped.
Pre-sales were heavy with 53% of the audience buying their tickets within the last week or a week ago..
The long-anticipated next installment in the legendary franchise has arrived, and as expected, the reactions are all over the place.
Critics? Not impressed. Early reviews have been rough — some calling it excessive, others saying it leans too heavily into shock value. Fans? A very different story.
Rotten Tomatoes is hovering around 77% from audience scores, which tells you everything you need to know about the divide. Horror has always been that genre where critics and fans rarely sit at the same lunch table. And honestly… when have they ever fully agreed on Scream?
Financially, though? This thing came out swinging. The film already pulled in $7.8 million, which is reportedly a franchise record for that particular preview window. It’s now poised to land somewhere between $40–50 million by the end of the weekend.
That’s not nostalgia money. That’s “we showed up” money. Now here’s the part that matters. A big opening doesn’t automatically mean the movie is good. We’ve all seen horror films open hot and disappear faster than a teenager in the third act.
But it also doesn’t mean it’s bad. People have been clamoring for more brutality. More gore. More risk. For years, fans said the franchise was getting too safe, too self-aware, too polished. Well… from what’s being said, they got their wish.
The question now isn’t whether it delivers blood. It’s whether it delivers staying power. Will people still be talking about it in three weeks? Will it spark debate? Will it create a new iconic scene? Or will it simply be remembered as “the gory one”?
Opening weekends are adrenaline. Longevity is legacy. And that’s something you can’t measure in a Friday night number.
For now, it’s a Scream 7 weekend. And whether you’re going for the kills, the chaos, or just to see if Ghostface still has that magic… the only real verdict comes after the crowd leaves the theater and the conversation begins. Let’s see if this one sticks.
The reviews are now coming in after the Embargo is lifted and they’re bad. Some of the lowest ratings of the entire Scream series on Rotten Tomatoes currently exist with critics lampooning the film such as The Daily Beast calling it shockingly terrible.
The
Hollywood Reporter‘s review was one of the more negative takes on the new film, writing, “The overfamiliarity would be more palatable if the dialogue were as fresh and funny as it was in the early installments, or if the kills were more creatively staged. But there’s a rote quality to the proceedings that makes Scream 7 feel like a slog despite its high body count and copious gore.”
The film is probably largely review-proof, with the movie expected to open around $60 million globally for the second-best start in the franchise..
But just because it may have a successful box office doesn’t mean it would be a good movie.
Dozens of pro-Palestine protesters marched outside the Los Angeles premiere for Scream 7 on Wednesday night.
Some demonstrators could be seen waving Palestinian flags, while others were holding signs that read “Cancel Paramount+” and “Stand For Free Speech Boycott Scream 7.” The group could also be heard chanting “Boycott Scream 7” and “Free, free, free Palestine,” while some played drums and trumpets.
The premiere took place at the Paramount Studios lot; however, the protests could only be faintly heard from the red carpet, where the film’s stars, like Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox, were posing for photos.
MORE..
About 25 demonstrators were seen positioned around the lot with flags, drums and bullhorns. They were heard chanting phrases like “Paramount, Paramount, what do you say?” and “Palestine will live forever!”
The protest was led by Entertainment Labor for Palestine, CODEPINK LA, Musicians for Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace-Los Angeles. The activists on the scene were also pro-Melissa Barrera, the actress who has been vocal in her support for Palestine.
In November 2023, Spyglass Media Group slashed Barrera from reprising her role in the seventh installment of the film after she expressed support for Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas war. The production company behind the film said in a statement that they had “zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form” and dropped her.
A group of pro-Palestinian protesters march outside of the LA premiere of Scream 7 tonight in front of the Paramount lot pic.twitter.com/i5umQH7uQf
Mel Gibson is consulting with excommunicated Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò — who has called the late Pope Francis “a servant of Satan” — for the “The Resurrection of the Christ,” his follow up to 2004’s “The Passion of the Christ” that is currently still shooting in Italy.
Viganò, who is the Vatican’s former ambassador to the United States, was excommunicated in 2024 for refusing to recognize Pope Francis’ authority and rejecting the Second Vatican Council that modernized the Roman Catholic Church. He has repeatedly referred to Francis as a liberal “servant of Satan” and a “false prophet” in public statements. Viganò is also known to be a big fan of U.S. President Donald Trump, a critic of gay rights and a supporter of anti-vaccine positions
Deadline is among those reporting that this weekend there’s expectations that 28 Years Later will unseat Avatar from the box office.
It’s a four-day weekend for Hollywood and there’s hopes that the newest zombie flick will make more than 20 million. And you know what, the movie Primates didn’t do half bad last week so maybe in these cold January weeks we still love and have that affinity for horror.
Bone Temple releases Wednesday in the UK, France, Belgium and Indonesia, then in Australia/New Zealand, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Netherlands and Saudi Arabia on Thursday, followed by Japan, Poland and Spain on Friday. That’s a 98% offshore footprint, except Korea and Thailand…
James Cameron’s third sci-fi epic has added $65.6 million internationally and $86 million globally in its fourth weekend of release, bringing its overseas tally to $888 million and global total to $1.23 billion. Although a box office juggernaut, “Fire and Ash” is trailing the first two films, 2009’s “Avatar” and 2022’s “The Way of Water,” at this point in its run.
“Zootopia 2” has remained a box office force since Thanksgiving, with $30.8 million overseas and $40.9 million worldwide in its seventh weekend in theaters..
MORE.. Good jeans..
Lionsgate’s psychological thriller “The Housemaid” is about to surpass $200 million globally. The film has generated $25.5 million from 66 overseas territories, including a No. 1 bow in the United Kingdom with $23.7 million. So far, the R-rated film, adapted from Freida McFadden’s popular book and starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, has become a breakout hit with $98.3 million internationally and $192.5 million worldwide after four weekends of release.
On New Year’s Eve, Stranger Things: The Finale debuted simultaneously on the streamer and in roughly 600 cinemas — more than a third belonged to AMC, the country and world’s largest chain — before holding encore showings throughout New Year’s Day. At AMC alone, the theater giant said that The Finale earned $15 million from the $20 food and beverage credits purchased.
The total summation for all theaters showing may have been near $30 mil.. a true cultural moment..
MORE…
Netflix didn’t have to worry about reporting grosses for Stranger Things, since fans reserved a seat by purchasing a concession voucher directly from the theaters.
AMC and Cinemark Theatres both charged $20, plus fees in certain instances.
Regal Cinemas and several others charged $11, a reference to the name of the show’s lead character.
Earlier this week, the Duffers said on social media that 1.1 million vouchers had been sold. By New Year’s Day, Steve Buck’s leading research and exit polling firm EntTelligence showed admissions at 1.3 million…
Maybe not number one, that was Avatar.. but she bounced into a strong showing in the Housemaid…
The Housemaid opened to an estimated $18.9 million in the U.S., good enough for third place on the charts behind the animated, faith-based movie David ($22 million). The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants also opened to $16 million, making it a very healthy weekend overall. But back to the topic at hand, Feig’s latest broke through the noise and, against a reported $35 million budget, is well-positioned to become a theatrical hit.
There’s been so much of a veil of secrecy surrounding this new Steven Spielberg movie that even now, with the trailer finally revealed, it still feels like we’re not getting the full story of what this film is really about. That said, we definitely know more than we did before.
And apparently, this is officially a summer event movie.
The film is titled Disclosure Day, and it stars Emily Blunt as a Kansas City TV meteorologist. She’s joined by Josh O’Connor, who plays a passionate UFO whistleblower.
Here’s the official description:
“An uncanny exploration of an alien invasion as initially experienced by a meteorologist (Emily Blunt) and a passionate UFO whistleblower (Josh O’Connor) who want to share the truth with the world all at once.”
The movie hits theaters on June 12, 2026.
The trailer is genuinely cool—we’ll link it below—and after watching it, I think it’s fair to say this could end up being the most hyped movie of 2026. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be the best movie of the year… —or, on the other hand, it could turn out to be one of the best films Steven Spielberg has ever spearheaded.
Either way, I can’t wait to see more. Because based on what we’ve seen so far, this looks really promising.
