Scream Box Office: Every Film's Gross, Budget and Series Total

The seven Scream films have earned about $1.12 billion worldwide on combined budgets of about $223 million, according to Box Office Mojo and The Numbers. All figures in the table are in millions of US dollars, except the series total in the worldwide column.

How much did Scream 1 make at the box office? Scream 1996, directed by Wes Craven and released on December 20, 1996, took $103 million in the United States and about $70 million abroad, for $173 million worldwide on a $15 million budget. Box Office Mojo lists a slightly lower budget and a worldwide total a few dollars higher, so the two trackers differ only slightly. Either way, it remains the most cost efficient film in the series.

Scream 2 (1997), also directed by Craven, came close to matching the original with $172.4 million on a $24 million budget. Scream 3 (2000), another Craven film, took $161.8 million worldwide, and its international share of $72.7 million was the best of the Craven era. Scream 4 (2011), the last of his four, earned $97.2 million worldwide on a $40 million budget and is the lowest grossing entry in the series.

The revival films, covered on the scream movies hub, start lower and finish higher. Scream 2022, directed by Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, made $137.7 million worldwide. Scream VI (2023), also called Scream 6 and made by the same directing pair, reached $166.6 million, including a $108.4 million domestic haul that was the series best at that point. Scream 7 (2026), directed by Kevin Williamson, leads every column with $121.9 million domestic, $91.9 million international and $213.8 million worldwide on a $45 million budget.

In my opinion, Scream is a consistent hit with one soft spot: six of the seven films earned between 4 and 11.5 times their budget, and only Scream 4 slipped, to about 2.4 times. That being said, $97 million worldwide against a $40 million budget is a disappointment rather than a disaster, and it is the one entry I would call an underperformer.

What movies broke $1 billion? None did individually. The series passes it only as a sum, and at $1.12 billion the margin is comfortable, so older reports that the franchise nears $1 billion have been overtaken. The Craven era (the first four films) accounts for about $604 million, and the three films since 2022 account for about $518 million. Put differently, the revival has come within about $86 million of the original run in three films instead of four.

The shape of the run is the interesting part. Grosses slid from $173 million to $162 million across the first three films, bottomed out with Scream 4, then climbed with every revival entry, and the step from Scream VI to Scream 7, at more than $47 million, was the biggest jump of all. Perhaps the cause is the cast: Neve Campbell sat out Scream VI after a pay dispute, according to Good Morning America, and returned for Scream 7, which became the franchise's top earner. It could be argued that her presence mattered, though nobody has established it, and the film also benefited from the first IMAX release in the series, per Skydance.

Is Scream 7 doing well at the box office? Yes. It has earned $213.8 million worldwide, Skydance put out a release on its global haul, and KSAT reported a franchise best opening weekend. Scream 3 held the opening record until Scream VI, according to Deadline, so the series has only recently started breaking its own marks.

On inflation, box office trackers report unadjusted figures, so the 1996 and 1997 films earned their money in much cheaper dollars. Adjusting would lift the Craven era, and I would expect the original to look even stronger next to Scream 7. If you are deciding what to watch, scream movies ranked is the natural companion to these numbers, and anyone tracking what comes next should read about Scream 8, which has no confirmed release date yet.