Despite the series’ worst reviews and a B CinemaScore from audiences, Paramount and Spyglass’ “Scream 7” exceeded all pre-release expectations and topped the box office.

The Neve Campbell-led title raked in a $64.1 million opening domestically and an additional $33.1 million overseas for a $97.2 million worldwide debut. Approximately $7.1 million of the worldwide total came from IMAX alone.

These numbers are significantly higher than last week’s projected domestic total of $44 million and worldwide total of $60 million. In Japan, it was Paramount’s best-ever horror opening, and the best-ever opening for a horror film in February.

The film was made with a final production budget of $45 million. So it’s already more than doubled that amount and should make quite a profit by the time it leaves theaters.

Domestically, “Goat” came in second with $12 million (down 29%), followed by “Wuthering Heights” in third place with $7 million (down 53%). Elvis movies were up 9% in their second weekend, with concert film “Twenty One Pilots: More Than We Ever Imagine – Live in Mexico City” opening in the top five with $3.7 million and “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert” with $3.5 million.

The Chinese race car movie “Pegasus 3” was a huge hit around the world, grossing $50.3 million at the worldwide box office, bringing its total gross up to $554.2 million. Wuthering Heights currently has a worldwide gross of $192 million, while Goat has grossed $130.5 million.

sauce: deadline