Professional film critics trashed “Scream 7” but audiences paid no attention. The horror film opened to a blockbuster cinema premiere (above, the sinister Ghostface character unleashes movie mayhem!).
The disconnect between pros and fanboys is striking. The Paramount Pictures release averaged a 77% favorable on Rotten Tomatoes (called the Popcornmeter), with above 60% is considered good, or “fresh.” In contrast, only 34% of reviews from experts were positive on the same movie-evaluation website.
Moviegoers further endorsed the R-rated “Scream 7” with a hefty $64.1 million in domestic boxoffice (U.S. and Canada) for its Feb. 27-March 1 premiere weekend. The horror film went wide playing on 3,540 theaters (1,000 theaters is considered a wide release) and was by far No. 1 in boxoffice dollars.
Prerelease tracking had forecast a more modest $45 million-$50 million premiere, which was exceeded. That’s at least a 20% under-estimating by professional researchers (more than 15% off is considered a sizeable miss). The disconnect is particularly significant because tracking surveys claim to be plugged in with fanboys, which is the demographic obsessed with popular culture. Those fanboys are big cinema supporters and widely followed taste-makers.
A Hollywood Reporter story by James Hibberd observed, “With critic review embargoes having lifted early Thursday morning, the film stands at only 34 percent positive across 135 reviews. ‘Scream 7’ ranks as the worst-reviewed of the franchise — below 2000’s ‘Scream 3,’ which has 45 percent. The other films in the series scored a good deal higher than both of those, ranging from 2011’s ‘Scream 4’ (61 percent) to the high-water mark of 1997’s ‘Scream 2’ (83 percent).”
One pro reviewer called the horror flick “shockingly terrible.” Some reviews were neutral to praiseworthy, but in total were a distinct minority.
What happened?
Horror-film aficionados are not interested in art or culture, like many high-minded professional critics, so disconnects occur. “Reviews in prestige print publications tend not to influence action-adventure, horror, and youth audiences, for which TV reviews showing clips are influential,” says the third edition of academic/business book “Marketing to Moviegoers.” On the other hand, prestige films aimed at sophisticated tastes live-and-die by critiques from the cultural elite.
Big disconnects between pros and audiences surface only occasionally. For example, the 2022 family drama “The Whale” posted a 91% with audiences, though just 64% with professional reviewers; the pros were proven wrong in their evaluation of cinema art when the movie received three Oscar nominations. “Whale” star Brendan Fraser received one of its two Academy Awards. Elsewhere, the recent remake of “Wuthering Heights” posted a 78% with moviegoers, but just 59% with critics.
The $64.1 million premiere weekend for “Scream 7” is best for the seven-film horror franchise; the best opening previously was $44.4 million for the sixth installment in 2023.
“Scream 7” reportedly cost $45 million to produce, making for a financial success for Paramount, which needs cash. The major studio led by the Ellison family reached an agreement days earlier to buy larger Warner Bros. Discovery for $110 billion in cash and debt assumption. If completed, the Hollywood mega-merger will leave Paramount/Warner with huge corporate debt that “Scream 7” earnings can pay down.
Media Post journalist Wayne Friedman pointed out “Scream 7” required low marketing expenses, which will enhance its financial returns.
“Paramount did not need to spend much on national TV advertising, given the franchise’s enduring popularity,” wrote Friedman. “The studio was estimated to have spent roughly $11.8 million on national TV advertising, according to iSpot. This was driven by a single ‘Super Bowl LX’ spot of two-and-a-half-minutes in duration ($10 million) that ran a few weeks earlier in the big game. In addition, some heavy TV dollars were spent on Spanish-language TV programming.”
“Scream 7” incurred some wrath from moviegoers for its casting switcheroo. Dozens of protesters, some waving Palestinian flags, demonstrated at some premieres in support actress Melissa Barrera, who was dropped from the movie’s cast after pushing pro-Palestinian political views.
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