Scream 6 Scores Franchise-Best Box Office at Preview Night

Positive reactions and high anticipation saw early tracking for Scream VI‘s opening weekend at the box office potentially projecting the film to have the best numbers of the whole franchise, with Thursday night’s preview numbers setting a franchise best. Admittedly, the first four films in the franchise opened before Thursday-night previews were the standard release strategy, though some earned midnight releases, so these numbers can really only be compared to last year’s Scream. Still, with that film taking in $3.5 million and Scream VI taking in $5.7 million, Ghostface’s return is off to a strong start. Scream VI is in theaters now.

As reported by Variety, the film scoring $5.7 million in preview numbers could see it scoring between $35 and $40 million for its whole weekend, falling in line with projections from earlier this month. However, one big difference is that previous opening-weekend projections were revealed before reviews for the film had been published, so with Rotten Tomatoes calculating 77% positive reviews, the film has a lot of positive buzz surrounding it. The current opening-weekend record came from 2000’s Scream 3, which took in $34 million.

The new film is described, “Following the latest Ghostface killings, the four survivors leave Woodsboro behind and start a fresh chapter. In Scream VI, Melissa Barrera (‘Sam Carpenter’), Jasmin Savoy Brown (‘Mindy Meeks-Martin’), Mason Gooding (‘Chad Meeks-Martin’), Jenna Ortega (‘Tara Carpenter’), Hayden Panettiere (‘Kirby Reed’), and Courteney Cox (‘Gale Weathers’) return to their roles in the franchise alongside Jack Champion, Henry Czerny, Liana Liberato, Dermot Mulroney, Devyn Nekoda, Tony Revolori, Josh Segarra, and Samara Weaving.”

Last year’s Scream marked the first entry in the franchise that wasn’t directed by Wes Craven, who had passed away in 2015. Despite Craven’s absence, that film did see the returns of longtime stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette. While that film didn’t set any records for the franchise’s box-office performance, it only took two weeks after its release for the sequel to be confirmed.

In this regard, we won’t be surprised if we hear that a seventh film in the franchise is announced in the near future, though directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett already have some other projects in the works.

Scream VI is in theaters now.

Are you surprised by the film’s box-office numbers? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!