‘Scream VI’ Scares Up $5.7 Million at Thursday Box Office, ’65’ Trails with $1.2 Million

J. Kim Murphy Yeah, we’re thinking he’s back. “John Wick: Chapter 4” is firing off a franchise-best opening weekend at the domestic box office, eyeing a finish that could stretch north of $70 million. Lionsgate’s action sequel got off to an impressive start with a $29.4 million opening day from 3,855 locations, a gross that includes $8.9 million in Thursday previews. The “John Wick” series has achieved a consistent growth that most modern Hollywood franchises can only envy, beginning with a storyline written from scratch and following with a series of entries that have each proven to be bigger than the last. The opening weekend gross of “Chapter 4” looks to blast past the $56.8 million debut earned by the series’ third entry, 2019’s “Parabellum.”

John Wick: Chapter 4” has burst into theaters guns blazing, earning a very strong $8.9 million opening on Thursday, topping the $5.9 million earned by “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” in May 2019. While Lionsgate has already begun a steady increase in theatrically exclusive releases with films like Kingdom Story Company’s “Jesus Revolution,” “John Wick: Chapter 4” is set to become the studio’s highest opening weekend not just within the Keanu Reeves franchise, but for any film since the end of the “Hunger Games” series in 2015.

Jordan Moreau John Wick is back — for the fourth time — and heading toward a franchise record opening with “John Wick: Chapter 4,” the latest installment in the gun-slinging, knife-throwing action franchise. Lionsgate’s fourth entry opened with $8.9 million in previews at the domestic box office. “John Wick: Chapter 4” is on track to surpass the third movie’s record-setting opening weekend with an expected bow between $65 million and $70 million. Impressively, each of the films has substantially increased its opening weekend release after release. The original “John Wick” opened with $14 million in 2014, followed by 2017’s “John Wick: Chapter 2” ($30.4 million) and 2019’s “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” ($56.8 million). The Thursday preview hauls have similarly grown over the years; “John Wick” had $950,000 in domestic previews; “John Wick 2” had $2.2 million and “John Wick 3” had $5.9 million.

EXCLUSIVE: The most critically acclaimed John Wick of all-time, Lionsgate’s John Wick: Chapter 4, is seeing the franchise’s best Thursday previews of all-time at around $8M per industry estimates tonight.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “John Wick: Chapter 4” is aiming to set a new franchise record in its box office debut. The fourth installment in Lionsgate’s action-thriller series, led by Keanu Reeves as a legendary assassin, looks to collect a mighty $65 million to $70 million from 3,800 North American theaters over the weekend. The movie also debuts this weekend in 71 territories at the international box office. By Sunday, ticket sales should climb to at least $100 million to $115 million worldwide. It’s impressive that each film in the “John Wick” franchise has managed to dramatically improve upon its predecessor at the box office, beginning with 2014’s “John Wick” ($14 million to start), 2017’s “John Wick: Chapter 2” ($30.4 million) and 2019’s “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” ($56.8 million). “Chapter 4,” earning some of the best reviews of the already well-received pack, should continue the trend. It cost more than $100 million to produce, giving it the highest price tag in the series.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Shazam wasn’t the magic word at the weekend box office. “Shazam: Fury of the Gods” opened to No. 1 in North America, but the Warner Bros. and DC Comics sequel fell short of expectations with its disappointing $30.5 million debut from 4,071 theaters. Heading into the weekend, the film was expected to collect $35 million to $40 million, which already wasn’t all that spectacular since it cost north of $110 million to make and another $100 millions more to market. It’s a substantial drop from 2019’s “Shazam,” the first comic book installment starring Zachary Levi’s quirky hero, which opened to $53.5 million and ended its box office run with $140 million domestically and $366 million globally. It’s also one of the worst starts in the DC Cinematic Universe, other than pandemic-era releases like “Wonder Woman 1984” ($16.7 million) and “The Suicide Squad” ($26 million), which both opened simultaneously on HBO Max.

New Line’s DC sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods got off the ground at 3 p.m. Thursday and posted $3.4M in previews at 3,400 theaters.

Oscar weekend belonged to “Scream VI” in theaters, as the horror sequel notched a franchise-best $44.5 million in domestic ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Refresh for latest…: Paramount/Spyglass Media’s Scream VI has slashed its way to a franchise-record opening at the global box office with $67.1M, topping Scream 3 for the best in the bunch of this long-running Kevin Williamson-created series. At the international box office, it also set a franchise-best start with $22.6M from 53 markets, a whopping 60% above the 2022 Scream. Domestic, too, was a record launch.

Scream VI is officially a hit!

Rotten Tomatoes scores of 75% critics and 93% audience. The film also received an 87% positive rating on PostTrak, up from 78% for the last “Scream.” With a reported budget of $33 million, “Scream VI” will be another profitable mid-budget film for Paramount and, depending on how well it legs out with general audiences, could become one of four $100 million-plus domestic releases this month.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Scream VI” collected $44.5 million in its opening weekend, a scary-good start for Paramount and Spyglass Media’s long-running slasher series. Those ticket sales were enough to top domestic box office charts over two newcomers, Sony’s prehistoric sci-fi thriller “65” and the Focus Features heartwarming comedy “Champions,” as well as last weekend’s victor “Creed III.” The initial haul for “Scream VI” is frighteningly strong for the sixth installment in a franchise. Not only did it greatly improve upon the start of last year’s hit reboot “Scream,” which scored with $30 million, but it crushed the all-time opening weekend record previously set by 2000’s “Scream 3” with $34 million. And, “Scream VI” cost $35 million so it’ll easily turn a profit in its theatrical run.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.Its star, Dermot Mulroney, told The Post his affinity for the genre could be his “birthright,” since he was born on Halloween.The film dethroned last week’s box office champ, “Creed III,” which came in second, earning $7.52 million.The “Rocky” spinoff brought in $58.4 million in its opening weekend at the domestic box office, which is more than any other movie in the boxing franchise, according to Screenrant.

J. Kim Murphy Do you like scary movies? The rest of the box office does. Paramount’s “Scream VI” looks to spook off “Creed III” for the top slot at the domestic box office. The self-branded slasher re-quel grossed $19.3 million from 3,675 locations on its opening day, a figure that includes $5.7 million in previews. That’s more than enough to fend off the weekend’s other new releases, Sony’s science-fiction dinosaur thriller “65” and Focus Features’ sports comedy “Champions.” “Scream VI” is already a few steps ahead of its 2022 predecessor, which landed a $13 million opening day. In fact, the “Scream” franchise is proving to be bigger than ever. Should projections hold, the sixth entry will score a franchise record opening weekend of $43.5 million, a good deal higher than the $32 million that “Scream 2” earned in its 1997 bow.

After struggling during the holidays with “Babylon,” Paramount is back on the hot streak it had for much of 2022 with Spyglass’ “Scream VI,” which is performing just above pre-release projections with a $19.3 million opening day and an estimated $43.5 million opening from 3,675 screens. Heading into the weekend, the sixth installment of the late Wes Craven’s meta-horror franchise was projected for a $37-40 million launch, beating the $30 million opening of last year’s “Scream.” This result also beats the franchise opening record of $34.7 million set by “Scream 3”; though that threequel, which was released in 2000, still holds the record after inflation adjustment.

Jordan Moreau The sixth time may be the charm: “Scream VI” is heading toward what could be a franchise-high opening at the box office this weekend. The Paramount and Spyglass Media slasher movie made $5.7 million at the domestic box office in Thursday previews. It’s expanding from 3,125 domestic theaters to 3,675 on Friday. Nearly 27 years after the first “Scream” movie terrified moviegoers, the franchise is still going strong, thanks to last year’s reboot, or “requel,” also titled “Scream.” The 2022 “Scream” pulled in $3.5 million in Thursday previews in January 2022 before scaring up a solid $30 million opening weekend. “Scream 3,” released in 2000, years before some of the younger stars of the newest movie were born, holds the record for the franchise’s highest opening weekend with $34 million.

The Paramount/Spyglass Media release of Scream VI is off to a loud start with $5.7M in Thursday previews from its 5PM fan event and and 5:30PM previews at 3,125 theaters. It’s expected that the sixthquel is headed to a franchise record domestic start of $35M-$40M this weekend. Worldwide, the current Scream from Radio Silence is expected to also notch a global record debut of $50M+ from 50 territories.

Paramount/Spyglass Media’s Scream VIis headed to a franchise-record opening of $50M+ worldwide from roughly 50 offshore territories including domestic.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Half a dozen movies in, and the bloodletting hasn’t eased up — or gotten less popular. “Scream VI,” the latest installment in the long-running horror series, looks to slash its way to new opening weekend heights at the box office. Paramount is releasing the film in 3,670 North American theaters on Friday. Based on early estimates, “Scream VI” is projected to debut to at least $35 million and as much as $40 million over the weekend. As of now, 2000’s “Scream 3” remains the franchise’s top opener with $34 million. Records aside, the newest entry is expected to improve upon the start of last year’s hit “Scream” (not to be confused with 1996’s “Scream”), which scored a solid $30 million debut in January. By bringing back franchise stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette — and adding in newcomers Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega and Dylan Minnette — to the quiet town of Woodsboro, 2022’s “Scream” earned positive reviews and ended its box office run with $81 million domestically and $137 million. Not too shabby, considering it cost $25 million and was released amid the omicron COVID surge.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Creed III” emerged victorious at the box office with its impressive $58.7 million debut, setting a franchise record while dethroning two-time champ “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” It’s also a big win for theater owners, who are banking on the good fortunes to continue in March with upcoming releases “Scream VI,” “Shazam: Fury of the Gods” and “John Wick: Chapter 4.” Heading into the weekend, “Creed III” was projected to earn $36 million to $40 million, which already would have been enough to establish a new high-water mark. The first “Creed,” which re-launched the decades-old “Rocky” films in 2015, powered to $29.6 million, while its 2018 sequel “Creed II” opened to $35.5 million.