Scream VI Box Office: strong Thursday previews point to a record opening

Last Updated on March 17, 2023

I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again – in an era where there are really no sure things at the box office, horror can always be relied upon to put butts in seats. For evidence of this, look at the box office receipts for Barbarian, The Black Phone, Smile, M3GAN, and now, Scream VI. Indeed, the long-running series is primed for a franchise-best opening weekend after taking in a strong $5.7 million in previews Thursday night. According to Deadline (and our own box office predictions) the movie is set to open to $35-40 million, which would be a franchise high. The previous record-holder is 2000’s divisive Scream 3, which opened to $34.7 million. Last year’s Scream had a strong $30 million opening and likely would have done much better had we hadn’t been in the middle of the Omicron surge (here in Montreal theaters were closed – I only finally saw the film on an airplane).

The Adam Driver actioner 65 had a less impressive opening night, only grossing $1.225 million, which means it may not crack single digits this weekend. Second place at the box office should go to Creed III, which made $3 million yesterday and has already passed $74 million domestically after playing to strong numbers all week long. Will it break $100 million this weekend? Meanwhile, Cocaine Bear seems likely to pass the $50 million mark at the box office this weekend, while Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania inches closer to what should be around a $200 million finish.

It’s worth noting that despite being the sixth movie in a franchise, Scream VI is a ton of fun. While I think my hometown of Montreal was a poor stand-in for New York (way too much room, not cramped enough), the film benefits from the chemistry of its young cast to the point that I wonder if legacy characters are actually still needed at this point.

Will you be seeing Scream VI this weekend? Let us know in the comments!