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Over-performing all projections, Scream 7 managed to score one of the biggest debuts for a slasher title, in spite of poor reception. Another impressive stat for this weekend was the presence of concert titles in the Top 5: Twenty One Pilots: More Than We Ever Imagined and EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert had solid debuts in wide release.

The Top 10 earned a combined $103.2 million this weekend. That's up a massive 128.9% from last year, when Captain America: Brave New World held the top spot for a third week due to very limited competition. Given how weak last March was, March 2026 is poised to massively improve on those numbers.

Debuting in first place, Paramount's Scream 7 earned a colossal $63.6 million in 3,540 theaters. This is easily the biggest ever debut in the franchise, and it's the second biggest ever for a slasher, just behind 2018's Halloween ($76.2 million).

The film was part of a controversy surrounding production company Spyglass. The company fired Melissa Barrera, the lead in Scream 6, for her pro-Palestine comments, and soon her co-star Jenna Ortega also exited, followed by director Christopher Landon. This forced a re-write, as the prior film was setting up the characters of Tara and Sam for new installments. A chain of events that took many by surprise, considering how Scream 6 was the second biggest film in the franchise. So Paramount and Spyglass had to seriously re-think how to save a lucrative franchise.

For starters, they went back to the drawing board, forcing some rewrites on how the story could continue without Tara and Sam. Eventually, the solution was simple: bringing back Neve Campbell, who chose not to return to the sixth film due to a pay dispute. Seems she used the situation to her advantage; she reportedly earned $7 million to return. On top of that, she announced that Kevin Williamson, the creator of the franchise and who wrote first, second and fourth installment, would return to write and direct the film. After Wes Craven passed away in 2015, it's logical that the other voice of the franchise could helm it.

That strategy paid off; despite the amount of characters, Sidney Prescott is the face of Scream, even more than Ghostface. To add further emotional investment, Williamson added Sidney's daughter into the mix. But perhaps the biggest change was the rest of the cast; not only bringing in Courteney Cox, but also bringing past stars like Scott Foley, David Arquette and (its buzziest name) Matthew Lillard. This led to a huge curiosity surrounding how they would be back.

Paramount was aggressive on the marketing front (including a Super Bowl spot), hoping that Sidney's return could offset any potential audience disinterest. All in all, everything worked out just fine. Well, almost everything. If you thought the amount of fan service would feel desperate… well, you were right. Critics panned Scream 7, as it's sitting at a poor 32% on RT, making it the lowest rated film in the franchise.

According to Paramount, 54% of the audience was male, and 62% was 25 and over. And here's when things start to get ugly. Audiences gave Scream 7 a poor "B–" on CinemaScore, tying with Scream 4 as the worst in the franchise. This is not quite horrible for horror, but considering Scream is often in the B range and it landed at the worst section, it's clear audiences were not satisfied with the film. And it's already seen in the opening weekend, given its steep 42% drop on Sunday (Scream 6 dropped 36%).

Scream is not a franchise known for great legs (beside the first film). Despite positive reviews, the fifth and sixth film had steep second weekend drops and didn't have any good legs. This won't be any different, especially with rough competition. With the poor reception and incoming competition, Scream 7 is gonna collapse quickly over the next few weeks. But given how high it opened, it's pretty much certain to be the highest grossing film in the franchise unadjusted. Right now, look for Scream 7 to finish with $130 million domestically. An insane amount, showing that there's still life after 30 years. But as the saying goes, a film can succeed despite poor reviews, but the follow-up is the one who pays for the sins. This does not bode well for interest in Scream 8, but that film is absolutely being greenlit as we speak. But that's a conversation for another day.

In second place, Sony's Goat continues its great run. It eased just 29%, earning $12 million this weekend. The film has earned a pretty great $73.9 million, officially overtaking Wuthering Heights as the year's highest grossing film domestically (although it will be overtaken by Scream soon). It remains to be seen how much it will be impacted next week with Hoppers arriving, but it's still in good shape to hit $100 million domestically.

After its rough drop last week, Wuthering Heights continues dropping in some harsh ways. This time, it was a 52% drop, adding $6.7 million this weekend. The film has taken in $72 million, and it should reach $80 million, but it won't probably won't make it much further.

Trafalgar released Twenty One Pilots: More Than We Ever Imagined – Live in Mexico City in 836 theaters. It managed to score $3.7 million over the weekend, cracking the fourth spot. Even crazy is that this is not the only concert title on the Top 5.

After its impressive start in IMAX screens last week, Neon expanded Baz Luhrmann's EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert in wide release. It increased 9%, earning $3.5 million in 1,963 theaters. That takes its 10-day total to $7.8 million. The film has universal acclaim (96% on RT, 87% on Metacritic) and the audience agreed; they gave it a rare "A+" on CinemaScore. Let's see how it holds up in the next few weeks.

Amazon MGM's Crime 101 dropped 37%, adding $3.4 million. That takes its domestic total to a meager $30.1 million.

Lionsgate's I Can Only Imagine 2 is not gonna come close to its predecessor's performance. Despite an "A+" on CinemaScore, the film collapsed a steep 59%, earning just $3.1 million. In contrast, the original eased just 20% on its second weekend. Through 10 days, it has earned a middling $13.3 million, and it's set to close with less than $20 million. Basically, only a little higher than the original's opening weekend ($17.1 million). This really shows the decline of popularity in theaters for Christian titles.

Despite the presence of Scream 7, Send Help held reasonably well. It eased 35%, earning $2.8 million this weekend. The film's domestic total stands at $59.9 million.

A24's How to Make a Killing tumbled on its second weekend. It dropped a rough 55%, earning just $1.5 million. Through 10 days, the film has amassed a paltry $6.2 million, and will close with less than $8 million. Glen Powell has had a very weak run lately.

Rounding out the Top 10 was Disney's Zootopia 2. It eased just 30%, adding $1.5 million. With $425.9 million domestically, it has officially dethroned A Minecraft Movie for the domestic crown of 2025.

Leaving the Top 10 after 11 weeks, Avatar: Fire and Ash added $1.3 million. And just like that, it has amassed $401.3 million.

Angel Studios' Solo Mio dropped 50%, earning $1.1 million. That takes its domestic total to $24 million.

A24 expanded the British film Pillion to 357 theaters, earning $701,516. That allowed the film to cross $2.5 million domestically.

There's failures, and then there's Psycho Killer. The film only earned $312,978 on its second weekend, which is a brutal 81% drop. It translates to an abysmal $285 per-theater average. Don't expect this to last long.

OVERSEAS

Scream 7 also broke franchise records outside America. It debuted with $33.1 million overseas, for a dazzling $96.7 million worldwide debut. The best debuts were in the Uk ($5.3M), France ($4.2M), Mexico ($3M), Australia ($2.5M), Germany ($2.4M), Brazil ($2.3M), Italy ($1.8M), Spain ($1.4M), Netherlands ($600K), Belgium ($525K), Colombia ($517K), Argentina ($489K), Peru ($447K), Austria ($432K) and Greece ($359K).

For decades, the original Scream has remained the highest grossing film in the franchise with $173 million worldwide. That record is finally going down.

While the domestic market is winding down, Wuthering Heights is getting saved by the overseas markets. It added $15.6 million, taking its worldwide total to $191.7 million. Best markets are the UK ($28.3M), Italy ($11.5M), Australia ($11.1M), Mexico ($8M), and Germany ($6.5M). It should cross $200 million in the next few days.

Goat added $9.3 million overseas, taking its worldwide total to $130.4 million. The film still has some markets left, including China, in March.

EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert has amassed $6.7 million overseas, for a $14.5 million worldwide total. It debuted in the UK with $2.5 million, while it crossed $1.9 in Australia, and opened with a strong $419K in Germany.

Hamnet added $3 million overseas, taking its worldwide total to $93.2 million. Within the next few days, it will officially cross $100 million worldwide, an incredible milestone for an adult drama.

FILMS THAT ENDED THEIR RUN THIS WEEK

• A big guy just ended its run. The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants has closed with a solid $71 million domestically and $167 million worldwide, just barely breaking even. It wasn't as big as Sponge Out of the Water ($325 million), but it was above the first film ($140 million), showing that despite being 27 years old and past its prime, the franchise is still strong in theaters.

• Focus Features' Song Sung Blue has closed with $56 million worldwide, not getting to recoup its $30 million budget. While the film had solid legs, it didn't open quite high to begin with, and overseas markets ignored it, mainly due to a lack of nostalgia for Neil Diamond's music. But at least Kate Hudson got a Best Actress nom.

• The Temple got Boned. Sony's 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple has closed with a poor $25 million domestically and $56 million worldwide, failing to recoup its $63 million budget. A very steep 63% drop from 28 Years Later, and it's also the lowest grossing in the franchise, below 28 Weeks Later ($65 million). Despite the glowing reception and positive word of mouth, it looks like the film was even more niche than its predecessor. Sony has already greenlit a third film with Cillian Murphy in talks to return… but will they really go forward? It wouldn't be the first time a studio canned a greenlit film.

• Chris Pratt is a movie star? You sure about that? Amazon MGM's Mercy has closed with an abysmal $24 million domestically and $53.6 million worldwide, failing to recoup its $60 million budget. This is a failure that everyone knew was coming. The trailers were bad, and the film itself was worse than you thought. Pratt really was lucky to star in IP-driven films, but this shows he can't headline an original title.

THIS WEEKEND

Two films are heading to theaters, with one clearly favored to win the weekend.

Disney is releasing Pixar's new original film Hoppers, which follows an animal lover, whose mind is transferred into a lifelike robotic beaver to communicate with animals and save their habitat from destruction. After the failure of last year's Elio, Pixar is hoping that this could show they still have an audience for new originals. The presence of Daniel Chong, the creator of We Bare Bears, points to something positive. And reviews are looking great: it's currently at 97% on RT.

WB is releasing Maggie Gyllenhaal's new film The Bride!, starring Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale. The film carries strong visuals, and it emphasizes that this will be a new take on the Bride of Frankenstein character. But the buzz seems quite low, and the over-performance of Scream 7 might impact its performance with horror fans. Horror is cheap, but this film ain't: it's carrying a $80 million budget, far higher than usual for horror. It really needs to pick up steam just to have a chance.

STREAMING DATA

How did Netflix do last week?

Figures for the week February 16-22:

Tyler Perry's latest film, Joe's College Road Trip easily took the top spot in the movie chart with 10.4 million views in its first week.

Not far off was the Mexican drama A Father's Miracle, attaining the second spot with 7.3 million views.

It doesn't look like KPop Demon Hunters is ever leaving the Top 10. On its 36th week, it's still on fifth place with 6 million views. Unbelievable.

Dropping out of the Top 10, The Rip added 3.6 million views, taking its lifetime to 112.3 million views.

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