Does Scream 4 Signal the Death of the Sequel?

The latest installment in the ironic horror series seems to have perished. So will there be a Scream 5?

By Leslie Gornstein Apr 23, 2011 2:00 PMTags
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With the less than awesome box office of Scream 4, should we believe that reboots are now more successful ventures than sequels?
—Dan C., via Facebook

In a word, yes. The opening weekend for Scream 4 scared up a so-so $18 million. But does that mean that people would rather see the birth of a baby Ghostface than the ongoing adventures of a geriatric Ghostface. Well:

Yes.

"If Scream 4 proved anything other than that irony is on its deathbed, it's that horror reboots have a better chance of survival in the current cinematic marketplace than continuing sagas," says box office analyst Jeff Bock of Exhibitor Relations. "If there is a Scream 5, expect it to be re-titled Scream, and don't expect David Arquette, Courteney Cox or Neve Campbell to return unless it's in a cameo—in the form of a body bag."

Need more proof? Numbers don't lie. Lately we've had reboots of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th—and all of them just killed Scream 4 in terms of earnings. Massacre took in $28 million in its opening weekend and has earned $80 million domestically thus far; Nightmare enjoyed a $32 million opening weekend and boasts $63 million domestic dollars under Freddy's belt; and the new Friday the 13th earned $40 million in its first Friday and Saturday and Sunday. (It's earned about $65 mil so far.)

In contrast, Bock expects the new Scream installment to earn, "tops," $40 million.

If you love reboots, I have more good news: Universal's The Thing and Disney's Fright Night are both being rebooted as well.

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