Box Office: ‘Scary Movie’ Scores Franchise-Best $55 Million Opening, ‘Masters of the Universe’ Stumbles With $29.3…

It’s a horror trifecta. Paramount’s “Scary Movie” ruled at box office with $55 million in its opening weekend, extending an unexpected streak for, well, scary movies in the height of summer movie season. The R-rated parody was joined at the top of North American charts by “Backrooms” and “Obsession,” two horror films that captured lightning in a bottle with Gen Z crowds.

Buoyed by positive word-of-mouth as well as the power of nostalgia and horror, “Scary Movie” landed above expectations and cemented a record opening for the franchise. The sixth installment in the 25-year-old series overtook the benchmark held by 2006’s “Scary Movie 4” with $49.7 million (not adjusted for inflation). Miramax financed “Scary Movie” for $30 million, so the horror-comedy is poised to reap financial rewards. Globally, it has earned $105.5 million from 53 markets.

”This is an outstanding opening for a comedy sequel this far into its series,” says David A. Gross, who publishes the box office newsletter FranchiseRe. “It’s also a huge bounce-back after the last [installment] in 2013 crashed when Anna Faris and Regina Hall were excluded.”

“Scary Movie” easily secured the No. 1 spot over this weekend’s other major new release, Amazon MGM’s sword-and-planet adventure “Masters of the Universe,” which debuted at No. 2 with a soft $29.3 million in North America. It’s an underwhelming start for a movie that cost nearly $200 million to produce, not including the marketing budget. It’ll require substantial staying power to justify its price tag, considering that theater owners get to keep roughly 50% of ticket sales.

”This is a soft opening for an action adventure with franchise and series potential,” Gross says, adding that “right now, the only fantasy heroes doing strong business are the biggest and most established superheroes, like Spider-Man, Deadpool, Wolverine, and Superman.”

“Masters of the Universe” is based on the Mattel action figure known as He-Man and marks the toy company’s second theatrical film from Mattel after “Barbie.” Inaugural crowds were mostly comprised of fans of the ’80s toy and cartoon, so “Masters of the Universe” will need to cater to broader audiences in the coming weeks in order to become profitable in its theatrical run.

In a statement, Amazon MGM’s domestic distribution chief Kevin Wilson repeated a similar sentiment about the using a different barometer for success than rivals.

“[Director] Travis Knight and the entire cast and filmmaking team have delivered something truly special, and this opening is exactly the kind of critical first moment that validates our holistic distribution strategy—building awareness and engagement that will carry well beyond the theatrical window.”

“Backrooms” landed in third as ticket sales declined 70% in its second weekend. Since the film had such a huge opening, even a steep drop amounted to a stellar $25.9 million from 3,565 venues. With $135 million in North America and $212.6 million globally to date, “Backrooms” now ranks as A24’s highest grossing worldwide release over “Marty Supreme” ($191 million).

Fourth place went to “Obsession” with $25.6 million in its fourth weekend of release, a mere 7% decline. The horror sensation, a frenetic thriller about the dangers of romantic fixation, has been doing unprecedented business, with ticket sales increasing in its second and third weekends. Now the low-budget “Obsession” has generated $152.1 million in North America and will pass the $200 million mark globally this weekend. Focus Features is releasing the film.

Fathom Entertainment’s “The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act” rounded out the top five, earning earning $19.4 million.  Disney’s “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” took sixth place with $10 million to push its domestic haul to $155.8 million. Globally, the “Star Wars” spinoff has earned $293.6 million.

“Scary Movie” brings back the Wayans brothers —  Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Keenen Ivory Wayans and Craig Wayans wrote the script with Rick Alvarez, while Marlon and Shawn co-star as Shorty and Ray — for the first time since 2001’s “Scary Movie 2.” (They were forced out of the franchise they created by the Weinsteins, who owned Miramax at the time.) Anna Faris and Regina Hall, whose characters of Cindy and Brenda haven’t appeared since 2006’s “Scary Movie 4,” also returned for the film, which skewers the very concept of sequels, reboots, remakes, prequels, spinoffs and origin stories (a.k.a. Hollywood’s bread and butter). There’s no shortage of scary movies to spoof since the last entry was released in 2013, with targets in this go-around including “Get Out,” “Weapons,” “M3GAN,” “Longlegs,” “Scream” and even “Backrooms.”

“Masters of the Universe” arrived in theaters after a long and arduous journey — not unlike Price Adam’s quest to find his way back to his home planet of Eternia. Since 2007, the property cycled through several studios, including Netflix, Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures, as well as countless writers, directors and stars, such as Jon M. Chu, McG, and Noah Centineo. When Amazon MGM acquired the rights in 2024, they hired Travis Knight (“Bumblebee”) to direct and Nicholas Galitzine to portray the blond-haired god. “Masters of the Universe” follows Prince Adam as he learns embrace his true identity, the almighty He-Man, after power in Eternia is brutally ceded to the evil Skeletor.