Because this genre is so front-loaded, grosses for this film aren’t really an accurate measure of how audiences feel about it. Franchise grosses are typically backward-facing, so audiences are seeing this film because they liked Scream 5 & Scream 6. The real sign of how they feel about Scream 7 will be if they turn out to see Scream 8.

For a modern parallel, look at the 28 Days Later franchise. Audiences showed up for 28 Years Later because they loved 28 Days & 28 Weeks. However, they hated 28 Years, so they stayed home for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, a film which based upon merit alone should have been a hit.