This weekend sees the release of Scream 7, which is hoping to continue the long-running horror franchise’s recent hot streak. Earlier this decade, the series showed it still had a lot of life left in it, as both 2022’s Scream and 2023’s Scream VI earned positive reviews and performed very well at the worldwide box office. Right now, all signs are pointing to Scream 7 being a hit in theaters, but there are questions about the film’s overall quality. After massive shake-ups behind the scenes, the filmmakers needed to pivot from the original Scream 7 plan and go in a different direction. While there are plenty of films that overcome troubled productions and turn out just fine, it doesn’t look like Scream 7 falls under that umbrella.
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As of this writing, Scream 7 has a 43% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes from 37 submitted reviews. That is the lowest score for the franchise since Scream 3, which has a mark of 45%. Scream 7 is a considerable decline from its two direct predecessors; Scream 2022 and Scream VI are both Certified Fresh at 76% and 77%, respectively.
What Critics Are Saying About Scream 7
While it’s disappointing to see Scream 7 earn negative reviews, it arguably isn’t the most shocking development. The review embargo wasn’t lifted until today (February 26th), which is when preview screenings start playing in theaters. Typically, when embargos are held for this long, it’s a sign that the studio is attempting to prevent negative word of mouth from spreading, as that can impact ticket sales. There are other reasons to keep reviews under lock and key (avoid leaking of spoilers, for instance), but usually it means the studio isn’t confident in the film’s quality.
No critics consensus for Scream 7 has been revealed yet, but a glance over the reviews published so far highlight why they weren’t shared until now. Though Scream 7 has its fair share of supporters who find it to be a fun yet average installment, most are in agreement that the franchise is starting to run out of steam. At their best, the Scream films stood out from the pack because they found creative ways to put a fresh spin on slasher movies and well-worn horror tropes. In the case of Scream 7, which went for a less meta approach, it just comes across as a standard genre film that is hamstrung by its repetitive nature and over-reliance on references to previous entries. Some critics believe this is the first time Scream has truly felt stale.
It’s important to keep in mind that there’s a small sample size of Scream 7 reviews available right now. As a comparison, Scream 2022 has 300 reviews counted on Rotten Tomatoes, while Scream VI has 316. This means there are likely hundreds of Scream 7 reviews to come, so the current score could fluctuate in one direction or the other. It will be interesting to see where the Scream 7 score settles once more reviews come in, but barring something unforeseen, it isn’t going to surge into the Certified Fresh range. Usually, the first wave of reviews is indicative of where the overall consensus will land, so Scream 7 will likely go down as one of the franchise’s worst-reviewed installments.
Whether this has any impact on the sequel’s box office prospects remains to be seen. Heading into its opening, Scream 7 is projected to break franchise records, but those estimates came out prior to any reviews. Word of mouth can affect box office results, particularly the long-term forecast. Scream 7 may still do well in its debut, but if audiences don’t respond positively to the film, that could hurt its legs. Paramount is hoping to get Scream 8 off the ground eventually, but odds are, no decision on that front will be made until Scream 7 has finished its run in theaters.
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