Update: The Sunday final estimates reveal a Scary Movie opening of $55 million.
The Scary Movie reboot is having the last laugh at the box office.
The Wayans-led relaunch is headed for #1 this weekend with a projected franchise-record $52.7 million opening at 3,490 theaters, based on estimates off a first Friday and previews haul of $23.5 million.
The number is not adjusted for inflation — more on that below — but on the books, it gives Paramount a badly needed win and puts the horror spoof franchise back in business.
It is also a blowout from a budget standpoint. The film reportedly cost just $30 million, making this one of the more lopsided box office wins Paramount has posted in some time.
Scary Movie Reboot Sets Franchise Opening Record
The projected opening clears the previous franchise highs, including the original Scary Movie, which opened to $42.3 million back in 2000, and Scary Movie 3, which opened to $48.1 million in 2003.
The big opening also comes after the reviews landed ahead of release, with critics giving the reboot a rough response while audiences appear to be showing up anyway.
For franchise context, 2013’s Scary Movie 5 opened to just $14 million. On raw dollars, the new reboot blows past that number and puts the franchise back near the top of the weekend box office for the first time in years.
Nostalgia Powers Scary Movie 6
Social tracking points to nostalgia doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
“The Scary cast has been around the block and are fully social and fully activated with Marlon Wayans at 23.3M fans, Regina Hall at 6.7M, Anna Faris at 5.3M, Anthony Anderson at 4.4M, Lochlyn Munro at 814K and Cheri Oteri at 413K,” reports RelishMix, via Deadline.
RelishMix adds, “Convo runs positive for Scary Movie 6, with nostalgia doing a full victory lap in a Ghostface mask. The crowd is hyped for Cindy, Brenda, the Wayans energy, horror cameos, and the return of dumb, rude, reference-heavy spoof comedy.”
The report also notes viewers are comparing the trailer to Scream, Terrifier, M3GAN, Smile, The Substance, Longlegs, Sinners, Weapons, and even Hot Shots, with the movie selling itself as a “parody buffet.”
“The best chatter treats the movie like a millennial reunion event with Gen Z accidentally invited,” RelishMix says. “The mood is loud, chaotic, and weirdly affectionate.”
Original Scary Movie Still Wins With Inflation
The caveat is the inflation adjustment.
The 2000 original’s $42.3 million opening works out to roughly $81.8 million in today’s money, which means the first film still holds the real-dollar crown. The new movie’s record is a nominal one and still impressive, but worth keeping straight for the box office sticklers.
Even with that context, the reboot’s $52.7 million opening is a major win for Paramount, especially with a reported $30 million budget behind it.
Scary Movie Beats Masters Of The Universe At The Box Office
While Scary Movie celebrates, the weekend’s other big opener is in freefall.
Amazon MGM’s Masters of the Universe is flopping with a $31 million opening on a budget many multiples of Scary Movie‘s.
The split says a lot about where audiences are putting their money right now. A relatively cheap comedy reboot built on nostalgia is winning the weekend, while a much more expensive franchise play is already looking like a major miss.
