Twenty-seven years after the first “Scream” film raised goosebumps, a sixth installment opened at the North American box office this weekend, grossing around $44.5 million, the company said on Sunday. industry watcher Exhibitor Relations.
It was “an excellent opening for an elite horror film,” said analyst David A. Gross, and it came as celebrities from across the film world converged on Hollywood for the Oscars presentations of the evening.
A Paramount/Spyglass Media product, “Scream VI” once again combines mystery and dark comedy.
This edition features Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega and Skeet Ulrich; it is the first in the series not to feature Neve Campbell, who failed to come to terms with the studio.
Last week’s best movie, MGM’s boxing drama “Creed III,” came in second, with an estimated take of $27.2 million for the Friday-Sunday period.
Michael B. Jordan directs — his first time in the role — while again playing lead character Apollo Creed.
In third was “65,” a new $12.3 million sci-fi thriller from Sony and Columbia Pictures.
Adam Driver plays a pilot whose spaceship crashes on an unknown planet, which turns out to be Earth 65 million years ago, and must protect himself and a young passenger from an attack by dinosaur as well as a huge asteroid that is about to extinguish much of life on Earth.
Marvel and Disney’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” placed fourth, at $7 million. Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly star as the main winged characters.
And in fifth place was Universal’s horror comedy “Cocaine Bear,” at $6.2 million. Keri Russell plays a woman chased through the woods of Tennessee by a bear who had discovered and recklessly consumed a stash of drugs.
Finally, while ticket sales and Oscar wins don’t always coincide, these were Hollywood’s top earners last year, according to Gross: “Avatar: The Way of Water” ($2.28 billion dollars); “Top Gun: Maverick” ($1.49 billion); “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” ($859 million); “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” ($455 million), “Elvis” ($287 million) and “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once” ($106 million).
To complete this weekend’s top 10:
“Jesus Revolution” ($5.2 million)
“Champions” ($5.2 million)
“Avatar: The Way of the Water” ($2.7 million)
“Demon Slayer: To the Swordsmith Village” ($1.9 million)
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” ($1.7 million)