How the 'Scream 4' Budget Has Hollywood Seeing Green

It goes without saying that "Scream 4" is not only one of the most talked about horror movies of the year, it is also one of the most highly-anticipated movies of the year. When movie-goers sit down in their seats in April to see the latest offering from Wes Craven, they will be thinking about who is going to die, and how. Hollywood will be paying attention, as always, to the ticket take and comparing it with the budget. There is an aspect, though, about this movie's budget that sets it aside from most other movies.

The budget for "Scream 4" has been reported to be around $40 million. While this might sound like a high number for a budget, it holds a surprise when you compare it to the budgets for the other movies in the series. "Scream 3" had the same budget of $40 million, which was 65 percent higher than the budget for "Scream 2." "Scream 2" had a budget that was about 70 percent higher than the budget for the first movie. If this math had held up for the current budget, the "Scream 4" budget should be between $65 million and $70 million. Also, mind the fact that "Scream 3" came out eleven years ago, and prices have gone up since then.

As of this point, the current projections place about $100 million in domestic ticket sales for "Scream 4." When figuring in inflation, this puts the current movie under what was brought in by each of the first three movies. It should be noted that as I am writing this, the preview commercials have not hit in force on TV, and these should drive the projections skyward as more people get to talking about the movie. It would not surprise me if the projections reached closer to the $120 million domestic mark in the next few weeks.

If the new offering by Wes Craven does bring in today's projection, that will still leave $60 million left over for profit. This is not only a substantial amount of money for a horror movie; this is a substantial amount of money for any movie. That means that the profit will be one and a half times the initial investment (budget) which would make it a blockbuster by movie investment standards. $100 million in ticket sales would make it a blockbuster in entertainment standards.

Granted, most of the savings have come from the generous tax incentives that Michigan is offering for movies that are shot in the state. The entire movie was shot in, or around, Ann Arbor. Still, it needs to be pointed out that the lower budget will mean a larger amount of profit filtering in for the movie. Of course, as always, it will get Hollywood talking about the potential for a "Scream 5," as long as everyone is not killed off this time around.