• by Wayne Friedman , Yesterday

Blasting through all expectations -- and with good news on the Warner Bros. Discovery deal front -- Paramount Skydance's "Scream 7" earned $64.1 million in U.S. box-office revenue and $97.2 million globally.

This was the best result ever for the Scream franchise. Previously, “Scream VI” (2023) pulled in $44.4 million in U.S. box-office results.

Paramount did not need to spend much on national TV advertising, given the franchise’s enduring popularity.

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.

Young audiences -- millennials and Gen Zers age 18-24 and 25-34 -- were the major ticket buyers, according to reports.

Social media played a major role -- in a positive way, especially with regard to some major cast changes.

Some 14 million views of two-minute and 24-second trailer was seen on YouTube.

Sony’s animated movie “GOAT,” now in its third weekend of release, pulled in $12 million domestically, according to Comscore.

Other movies include Warner Bros.’ “Wuthering Heights” ($6.95 million), Trafalgar Releasing’s “Twenty One Pilots: More Than We Ever Imagined” ($3.7 million), Neon Rated’s “EPIC: Elvis Presley in Concert” ($3.5 million) and Amazon MGM’s “Crime 101” ($3.4 million).

Late late week after a long and protracted battle with Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to merge with Paramount Skydance for $31/share in cash, with a total value of the deal (including debt) at around $110 billion.