“Scream” dominates the US box office and unseats “Spiderman” in North America

Paramount’s new premiere “Scream” jumped to the top of the North American box office this weekend, proving the enduring appeal of horror movies, while “Spider-Man” finally dropped from the top spot, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported on Sunday.

The latest iteration of the “Scream” franchise earned $30.6 million for the Friday-Sunday weekend and is looking to meet the $35 million expectation for the four days of the long weekend, since Monday is a holiday in honor of to Martin Luther King Jr.

David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research called this a strong opening for the horror film, even though the latest “Scream” sequel didn’t scare with numbers like “Halloween 12,” which opened to 49.4 million admissions. dollars in October.

Still, Paramount has already managed to recoup its relatively modest $25 million budget.

As in the original version of 1996, “Scream” returns to count in this version with Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette in its cast.

Sony’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” slips into second place still with a hefty $20.8 million ($26 million for the four days), as its month-long reign at the top of the box office comes to an end.

So far the collection of the superhero saga has earned 704 million in North America and another 926 million abroad.

In third place was the Universal family production “Sing 2: Come and sing again!” with 8.3 million (10 million for the entire long weekend).

The voice cast for this animated musical includes stars like Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Matthew McConaughey, Bobby Cannavale, Pharrell Williams and Bono.

Fourth place went to another Universal film, the espionage film “Agent 355,” which earned $2.3 million ($3 million for four days). The film stars Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz and Lupita Nyong’o.

And in a fifth place “The King’s Man: The Origin”, of 20th Century, raised 2.3 million (3 million). It stars Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans and Matthew Goode in a spy-action comedy.

Rounding out the top 10:

• “Belle” ($1.6 million; $2 million for 4 days)
• “American Underdog” (1.6 million; 1.9 million)
• “Love without barriers” (948,000; 1.2 million)
• “The Matrix: Resurrections” (815,000; 1 million)
• “Licorice Pizza” (800,000; $950,000)