‘Scream’ looks to draw in young horror fans, jumpstarting 2022 box

The latest installment in the “Scream” franchise opens this weekend to a movie theater industry threatened by a rapid rise in coronavirus cases fueled by the more transmissible omicron variant.

December’s release of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” was able to defy Covid concerns to become the highest grossing movie during the pandemic, making more than $1 billion and counting. But the debut of “Scream” presents a chance to break Spider-Man’s grip on the top spot at the weekend box office, which it’s held for four weeks.

“Scream” does have some challenges. It’s facing not only a potentially smaller moviegoing audience, but it’s been more than a decade since the franchise’s last theatrical release.

“Consumers are being increasingly selective of what they believe justifies that theatrical visit,” said Rich Greenfield, general partner at LightShed Ventures.

The film is the fifth installment since the original opened in theaters 26 years ago. Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette reprise their roles in the franchise, and bring along newcomers Melissa Barrera (“In The Heights”), Jenna Ortega (“You”) and Jack Quaid (“The Boys”). Cox described the movie as a “brand new launch” of the slasher franchise in an interview on “The Drew Barrymore Show” in May.

The film is projected to tally between $25 million and $30 million in ticket sales during its opening weekend, according to Comscore. The figure includes the holiday on Monday. Along with its legacy factor, the film has the advantage of being in a genre that appeals to younger audiences, who are more willing to head to a movie theater in the midst of the pandemic.

During the health crisis, horror films like “Candyman,” “A Quiet Place: Part II,” and “Halloween: Kills,” all grossed more than $20 million in their opening weekends, according to Comscore.

“The horror genre was one of the saviors of the movie theater during the pandemic,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.

A survey from Gallup found that Americans between 18 and 29 years old were seeing movies in theaters at more than twice the rate of other demographics. This age group has always had more active moviegoers, but the gap has widened during the pandemic.

“You’ve got more mature audiences still staying home to a greater degree and you have a genre that has that youth appeal,” said Dergarabedian. “Then you have younger viewers who want to go out to the movie theater. And the pandemic has really heightened that disparity.”

Younger audiences continue to dominate horror movie attendance, making it a safe bet for studios to release in theaters during the pandemic. “Halloween Kills,” a sequel to Blumhouse Productions’ Halloween revamp, opened in October 2021 to almost $50 million. Thirty-five percent of its audience was made up of 18- to 24-year-olds, making it the largest demographic group for the film, according to data from Comscore/Screen Engine API.

“There are certain types of movies…