• by Wayne Friedman , March 12, 2023

Oscar weekend was the perfect time for Paramount’s latest edition of its “Scream” franchise to scare up its best opening weekend with $44.5 million in U.S./Canada box office, according to Comscore.

“Great marketing and perfect release date made this one a winner,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.

That marketing included an engaging Halloween-night themed 60-second spot on a New York City subway with costumed passengers carefully eyeing a now iconic “Ghostface” character -- black hood and cloak with a jagged, white vinyl mask.

Much of the campaign ran on NBA basketball, USA Network’s “WWE Monday Night Raw,” college basketball, MTV’s “Ridiculousness” and ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”

The predominantly four-week national TV marketing campaign spent a modest estimated $2.9 million for some 1,754 airings -- pulling in 653.8 million impressions, according to iSpot.tv.

Average national TV ad spend can range from an estimated $12 million to $25 million depending on the location size of the release, according to analysis. Overall marketing for a wide-release movie can cost $35 million to $37 million.

Sony Pictures' new sci-fi film “65” -- about a futuristic spaceship that crash-lands on a distant planet where only the captain and a young girl survive -- came in at third place at $12.3 million.

It came in third place behind the second weekend of MGM's” Creed III”, which scored another strong $27.1 million.

A new release from Universal Focus Features -- “Champions,” about a minor league basketball coach sentenced to community service and forced to coach a Special Olympics team -- took in $5.2 million for seventh place.