Forecast

Scream 3 opens at a whopping 3,467 theaters today, the widest debut ever. It goes without saying that it will easily be the #1 picture of the weekend, and that's not just because of the weak marketplace.

The original Scream opened to $6.4 million from 1,413 theaters in December 1996, but had a phenomenally leggy run to $103 million. Scream 2 struck while the iron was a hot a year later, scoring $32.9 million from 2,663 theaters, a record opening for December. It wasn't nearly as leggy, but ended up with $101.4 million nonetheless, a superb hold for a sequel.

While Scream 3 is debuting more than two years after the last one, the horror and teen craze that the original helped start is still in full effect. The ad campaign has also been rather aggressive, appealing to fans of the series with a countdown and the promise of big surprises.

Scream 3 should also have little trouble achieving the highest opening for the month of February. The 1997 special edition of The Empire Strikes Back currently holds that title, with $22 million from 2,111 theaters.

Contributing to the record theater count was the weak marketplace. Overall box office totaled just $66.4 million last weekend, down 9% from the same frame last year. The #1 picture, Eye of the Beholder, grossed just $6 million, the lowest since the 1997 Superbowl weekend when Jerry Maguire grossed $5.5 million. Hence exhibitors were understandably most obliging.

However, keep in mind that a high theater count doesn't necessarily translate to huge business. It just means that most everyone who wants to see the picture will have an easier time getting tickets. For example, the previous record holder was last July's Wild Wild West, which opened at 3,342 theaters, but grossed a disappointing $27.7 million.