Scream 3, the long awaited finale in Wes Craven's Scream franchise, was an instant, not entirely unexpected, box office blockbuster over the weekend in North America. Grossing a whopping $35.2m, the film became in the process the biggest ever February opener, the biggest ever opener for its distributor Miramax Films and the biggest ever horror film opener. Its gross was higher than the rest of the top ten combined.

Scream 3 was originally scheduled to open in December as did its predecessors Scream 2 in 1997 and Scream in 1996. Scream opened on Dec 24, 1996, with $6.3m and went on to total $103m. Scream 2 opened on Dec 16, 1997, with $33.6m and went on to take $101.3m. The third instalment played on a massive 3,467 theatres and its screen average was a mighty $10,153.

The rest of the top ten was sluggish, with Oscar contender The Hurricane coming in second with $4.9m and Stuart Little rallying at three with $4.8m. Last week's number one Eye Of The Beholder fell 32% in its second weekend and will end up coming in fifth or sixth depending on The Green Mile, which recorded roughly the same gross.

Two star-driven movies opened in limited release. Hollywood Pictures' Gun Shy grossed about $700,000 in 296 theatres. Starring Liam Neeson as an undercover agent who has a crisis of nerves, Gun Shy was financed as a negative pickup by Buena Vista Film Sales, The Walt Disney Co's sales arm run by Jere Hausfater, but only recently picked up for domestic release by Disney label Hollywood. Sandra Bullock, whose Fortis Films produced the film, and Oliver Platt co-star. It was written and directed by first-timer Eric Blakeney.

Meanwhile Simpatico which had an Oscar qualifying run in December went onto 283 screens and grossed an estimated $500,000 for a disappointing screen average of under $2,000. Starring Nick Nolte, Jeff Bridges and Sharon Stone, the dark adaptation of Sam Shepard's play was directed by Brit first-timer Matthew Warchus. Fully financed by Le Studio Canal Plus, Simpatico is a Fine Line Features release domestically.

ESTIMATED TOP TEN US FEB 4-6

Film (Distributor)/International distribution/Estimated weekend

gross/(Estimated total to date)

1. Scream 3 (Miramax Films) Miramax International $35.2m --
2. The Hurricane (Universal) Beacon Pictures/BVI $4.9m ($37.5m)
3. Stuart Little (Columbia) Columbia TriStar $4.8m ($128.7m)
4. Next Friday (New Line) New Line International $4.3m ($45.5m)
5. (tie) Eye Of The Beholder (Destination) Behaviour Worldwide $4m ($11.8m)
5. (tie) The Green Mile (Warner Bros) Universal $4m ($120.4m)
7. Galaxy Quest (DreamWorks SKG) UIP $3.3m ($62.9m)
8. Down To You (Miramax Films) Miramax International $2.9m ($16.8m)
9. Girl, Interrupted (Columbia) Columbia TriStar $2.6m ($25m)
10. The Talented Mr Ripley (Paramount) Miramax International $2.5m ($75.6m)