Is Neve Campbell the Most Important Final Girl Ever? The Box Office Says So

I woke up this morning and gasped at the box office results. You see, Scream 7 had gone into the weekend with an optimistic $40 million to $45 million opening projection. That was good, it made the filmmakers happy, but instead, the film delivered a franchise-best $64.1 million domestic debut.

That was a jaw-dropping number that not only beat expectations but drove a stake through the heart of anyone arguing that Neve Campbell wasn't valuable to this franchise.

Just one movie after they didn't cast him because she wanted more money, Campbell showed up, and his fans did, too.

Now, it's time to declare her the ultimate final girl.

Let's dive in.

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The ROI on A Hero We All Love

Just over a year ago, the Scream franchise was listless. They had attempted to reboot the series with younger characters. The movies did well, but after the studio disagreed with political statements made by the leads, they really had no future.

That led to a rewrite and caused the studio to go back to Neve Campbell, who wanted $7 million to be in the new movie.

See, she left Scream VI due to a "lowball" salary offer.

But now they needed her badly. She got the payday, and the film overperformed its baseline projections by nearly $24 million.

And that's with bad reviews and a rotten tomato score.

People were showing up because they were nostalgic for the stars and the franchise.

And that payday for Campbell was a small price to pay for a theatrical hit.

The Scream Movies At The Box Office

Scream 7 achieved the highest domestic opening in the history of the franchise, outstripping Scream VI by nearly $20 million.

It's sort of the ultimate mic drop for Neve Campbell's agents if anyone asks her if she has value in these movies.

Let's look at their history and see how they've done...

We're seeing that most of these movies cross $100 million, which makes them great investments. But the movies with the retro characters have done better than the ones without.

It's a lesson in rebooting and how hard it can be to capture the magic twice.

Why Neve is the Greatest Final Girl

We've seen Sidney Prescott survive seven Scream movies. She's become the person who carries this franchise and the actual beating heart of horror movies that can still dramatically open wide and make a lot of money.

People want to see her in these movies, and when you give them what they want, they show up.

This is the kind of Hollywood math that seems simple.

And yet the thing I admire most about this situation is that Campbell knew not to take less. She knew that it's not just about any gal at the end of these movies, it's about the one the audience fell in love with and that they want to see.

You can't replace that.

Summing It All Up

We'll see how the Scream 7 box office legs out, but this shows it's already a hit, and it would be a chock not to see them bring Campbell and company back for the next movie in the series as well. It may also help Campbell get other roles or launch another Wild Things movie, which would be fun as well.

In Hollywood, it's all about what you've done for me lately, and it's cool to see someone like this win again and bet on themselves.

Let me know what you think in the comments.