Beltrami states that the voice "spoke" for the character, "lamenting" the loss of her mother. Christian Clemmensen of Filmtracks called the "haunting" vocals of the track the "voice of the franchise". The song was used throughout the film's sequels. "Scream" held its premiere on December 18, 1996 at the AMC Avco theater in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. Bob Weinstein ordered that the film be released on December 20, 1996, a date others were critical of as it was the Christmas period where seasonal and family films were more prevalent. Weinstein argued this fact was in the film's favor as it meant that horror fans and teenagers had nothing interesting to watch during the December period. When "Scream"s first weekend takings amounted to only $6 million, it was considered that this release date gamble had failed, but the following week, takings did not drop but increased and continued to increase in the following weeks leading to a total U.S. gross of over $100 million and high critical praise. The film opened in 1,413 theaters, taking $6,354,586 in its opening weekend, opening in second against "Beavis and Butt-head Do America", and almost $87 million in its initial release. It was re-released to theatres on April 11, 1997, and accrued a further $16.2 million, for a total domestic gross of $103,046,663, and a worldwide lifetime gross of $173,046,663. "Scream" remains the most successful of the "Scream" film series, receiving a largely positive critical reception. "Scream 2" generated a worldwide gross of $172,363,301, less than $1 million below that of the first film, $11 million more than "Scream 3", and $75 million more than "Scream 4". As of 2013, "Scream" is currently the 577th highest-grossing movie worldwide. In the United States, without adjusting for inflation, the film is the twentieth highest-grossing horror film, and remained the highest-grossing slasher film until it was surpassed by "Halloween" (2018), directly followed by "Scream 2" and "Scream 3". Adjusted for inflation, the film would have doubled its gross to $346 million. Despite competition from other box office fare such as Tom Cruise's "Jerry Maguire" and Tim Burton's "Mars Attacks!", its release during the Christmas season, and "Variety" labeling it "D.O.A." before it was even released, "Scream" became the fifteenth highest-grossing film of 1996, well placed amongst big-budget blockbusters released that year such as "Independence Day" and "".