'Scream' scares off 'Spider-Man' with $30.6M debut

NEW YORK (AP) - After a month at no. 1, 'œSpider-Man: No Way Home'ť has finally been overtaken at the box office. Paramount Pictures' 'œScream'ť reboot debuted with $30.6 million in ticket sales over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

'œScream,'ť a self-described 'œrequel'ť that is both the fifth film in the franchise and a reboot introducing a new, younger cast, led all releases over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. Paramount forecasts that it will total $35 million including Monday's grosses. 'œScream,'ť which cost about $24 million to make, added another $18 million in 50 international markets.

That made for a solid revival for the self-aware slasher franchise. Rights to the 'œScream'ť films, once a reliable cash cow for Harvey and Bob Weinstein's Miramax Films, were acquired by Spyglass Media Group, which produced the new film with Paramount. This 'œScream," helmed by Matt Bettinello-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, was the first not directed by Wes Craven, who died in 2015. It features original 'œScream'ť cast members Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette alongside new additions Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega and Jack Quaid.

Most notably, 'œScream'ť is the first box-office success in a year that Hollywood hopes will see a return to weekly stability at movie theaters. January is typically a quiet period at the box office, but the surge of the omicron variant in COVID-19 has further upended release plans of some winter movies.

'œAll of our traditional measures were indicating a solid opening, but as I kept telling people: We're still in this thing and it's very difficult to determine what will actually happen,'ť said Chris Aronson, distribution chief for Paramount. "Now we're open, people have seen the movie and we're off and running. Hopefully this becomes another building block toward building the business back and getting it back to some semblance of normalcy."

Meanwhile, 'œSpider-Man: No Way Home'ť slipped to second place but continued to rise in the record books.

'œNo Way Home'ť grossed $20.8 million in its fifth weekend of release. Sony Pictures predicts that with another $5.2 million on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 'œNo Way Home'ť will reach a domestic cumulative total of $703.9 million Monday, edging 'œBlack Panther'ť and moving into fourth place all-time. That puts it behind only 'œAvatar'ť ($760 million), 'œAvengers: Endgame'ť ($858 million) and 'œStar Wars: The Force Awakens'ť ($936 million). Globally, 'œNo Way Home'ť has grossed $1.6 billion.

Universal Pictures' 'œSing 2'ť landed in third place in its fourth weekend with $8.3 million over the three-day weekend. The animated sequel has grossed $122.1 million domestically and $96.3 million internationally.

While the debut of 'œScream'ť could be celebrated by Paramount, which postponed most of its top 2021 releases to 2022 (movies including 'œTop Gun: Maverick'ť and 'œMission Impossible 7"), its performance also typified current box-office realities. Superhero movies and genre films that appeal to younger audiences have bounced back to near pre-pandemic levels, while films skewing older haven't.

'œScream,'ť which received largely favorable reviews (81% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and a B+ CinemaScore from audiences, fared better than the last installment, 2011's 'œScream 4." That film launched with $19.3 million. The audience for the new 'œScream'ť was 42% under the age of 25, Sony said. But any success needs to pull from various demographics, and 'œScream'ť also appealed to fans of the early franchise entries. Some 23% of ticket buyers were over 35.

The only other new widely released movie over the weekend was 'œBelle,'ť Mamoru Hosoda's critically acclaimed anime riff on 'œBeauty and the Beast.'ť It debuted with $1.6 million in 1,326 theaters.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore.

1. "Scream," $30.6 million.

2. 'œSpider-Man: No Way Home," $20.8 million.

3. 'œSing 2,'ť $8.3 million.

4. 'œThe 355,'ť $2.3 million.

5. 'œThe King's Man,'ť $2.3 million.

6. 'œBelle,'ť $1.6 million.

7. 'œAmerican Underdog,'ť $1.6 million.

8. 'œWest Side Story,'ť $948,000.

9. 'œLicorice Pizza,'ť $880,000.

10. 'œThe Matrix Resurrections,'ť $815,000.