411 Box Office Report: Scary Movie Powers To #1, Masters of the Universe Opens Softly

The spoof movie made a return to the top of the box office this weekend as Scary Movie soared while Masters of the Universe opened lightly. The sixth movie in the horror comedy franchise claimed the top spot with a fantastic $55 million take. That is the highest start for the franchise to date, beating out the $48.1 million opening of Scary Movie 3 back in October of 2003.

The opening was stronger than projected for the film, which was expected to open around $45 million or so. It marks a return to form not only for a franchise that has been dormant for 13 years, but for a genre of comedy that started to show signs of life again when Naked Gun debuted to $16.8 million in August of last year, ultimately making its way to $52.6 million domestically and $102 million worldwide.

As it stands, Scary Movie has already eclipsed both of Naked Gun’s numbers. It added $50.5 million overseas for $105.5 million worldwide. It certainly helped the film that the Scream franchise is back; Scream 7 started with $63.6 million earlier this year. Combine that with the strength of horror the last few years and there was plenty for the film to spoof. That was reflected in Paramount Pictures’ inspired marketing of the film, which parodied a number of famous film posters.

The marketing helped where the critics didn’t. The film was DOA with many critics at a low 26% aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, this franchise has never been a critical favorite with the highest aggregate score a 53% for the first film. Word of mouth is mild on it (a 70% RT audience rating and C+ CinemaScore), but Paramount already has their money on this $30 million production.

No Scary Movie film past the second has ever hit the 3.0 multiple, and don’t expect this one to either. Still, a likely $120 million total will be fantastic based on the costs and including worldwide grosses. Odds are we’ll be seeing Scary Movie VII soon enough.

Meanwhile, Masters of the Universe was in much weaker shape. The long-gestating live-action adaptation from Amazon MGM grossed just $29.3 million in its opening weekend. That’s below even the mediocre $30 million to $35 million that was predicted coming into the weekend.

Masters of the Universe was the culmination of a long, windy road to get the IP back on the big screen in live action for the first time since the 1987 film. There have been several directors attached over the last 18 years — John Woo, John Stevenson, Jon M. Chu and more. During that time, the franchise has seen new life with a variety of animated series on Netflix. However, none of those were enough for the film to overcome the one-two-three punch of Scary Movie, The Backrooms, and Obsession divvying up what would have been the core audience.

Masters earned solid reviews from critics, but a 67% RT aggregate is not enough to make a film feel like a “must-see” phenomenon. Fans are more enthused with a B CinemaScore and 87% RT audience score, numbers that leave this one hopeful for good holds based on word of mouth.

But even with word of mouth, Masters is not going to make back its production budget which was a lofty $170 million. Overseas it added just $25 million for a $54.3 million worldwide start. Now, the caveat is that this film was never necessarily looking to make back its budget in theaters. It’s an Amazon MGM film so it will of course go to Prime Video, and it’s also of course a toy franchise at its core. So, falling short in theaters doesn’t mean that the studio will lose its shirt over this. Still, it is probably looking at $75 million at best in the US which will leave a lot of money it needs to make up in ancillary revenue.

Backrooms had a very expected fall, as it dropped 68% in its second weekend to $25.9 million. This is more or less what we figured would happen, as we’re talking about a film that massively overperformed in its launch weekend and doesn’t quite have the same regard as Obsession (which is in itself an anomaly in terms of box office holds). Backrooms was targeting a younger audience and most of them went out to see it in its opening frame.

Still, A24 isn’t shedding any tears. Backrooms has a massive $135.1 million domestically and $212.7 million worldwide, all on a budget of just $10 million. It is A24’s highest-grossing film by quite a bit, and will close out around $175 million to 180 million, perhaps more if it starts to hold better.

Obsession continues to find itself in unprecedented ground, down a mere 7% in its fourth weekend. That gives it the best fourth weekend for a horror film or all time, beating out The Blair Witch Project’s $24.3 million — and that’s counting two weeks of Blair Witch in very limited release as opposed to wide release. The Curry Barker-directed phenomenon now has $152.1 million in the US and $224.8 million worldwide against a budget of $1 million. The bottom will drop out of the holds at some point, but it’s entirely likely that this film crosses the $200 million mark stateside.

Fathom Entertainment released The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act, and it came out of nowhere to land at $5 for the weekend with $12.4 million. The film, which is the final two episodes of the popular animated online series,

The Amazing Digital Circus added $8.4 million on Thursday for a total cume of $20.8 million. There’s no word on the budget, but as the concluding episodes of the series any box office is likely just bonus money. The film will fade away fast, but Fathom and Glitch Productions are very happy with these results.

The Mandalorian & Grogu fell off further, down 59% in its third weekend with $10 million. The Star Wars film is now well behind where Solo: A Star Wars Story was at the same time in its run. That film had $183.8 million domestically at this point while Mandalorian has $155.8 million domestically and $293.6 million worldwide. It looks like it will be the lowest-grossing live-action Star Wars film to date and will probably end its run around $180 million. The budget was $165 million.

Michael was down to #6 in its seventh weekend, easing 35% to $7.7 million. The music biopic is has now hauled in $354.3 million in the US and $888.1 million worldwide against a $155 million production budget. It is aiming for around $380 million in its final US numbers.

Sony Pictures’ The Breadwinner, followed up its underperforming start with a mediocre hold, down 54%$ to $3.4 million. The Nate Bargatze family comedy is now at 13.8 million, making it unlikely to make profit against a $25 million budget. It is looking for around $18 million to $20 million by the end of its run.

Pressure was down 48% in its second frame, with the World War II drama taking in $3 million. That brings the ensemble film up to $11.2 million, setting it on the path for $15 million to $16 million by the end of its run. There’s no word on the film’s budget, but it will probably be profitable once home viewing revenue comes in.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 closed out the top 10, down 52% in its fifth weekend with $2.8 million. The comedy sequel is a big money maker with $215 million stateside and $663.6 million worldwide against a $100 million budget. We’re looking at around $220 million as a domestic final.

Next weekend will see a new #1 with Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi thriller Disclosure Day, which is looking at $45 million to $50 million. The spoof comedy Stop! That! Train starring RuPaul and a number of Drag Race alumni should be in the mid-single digits.

Box Office Top Ten (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)

1. Scary Movie – $55 million ($55 million total, $105.5 million WW)
2. Masters of the Universe – $29.3 million ($29.3 million total, $54.3 million WW)
3. Backrooms – $25.9 million ($135.1 million total, $212.7 million WW)
4. Obsession – $25.6 million ($152.1 million total, $224.8 million WW)
5. The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act – $12.4 million ($20.8 million total, $20.8 million WW)
6. The Mandalorian & Grogu – $10 million ($155.8 million total, $293.6 million WW)
7. Michael – $7.7 million ($354.3 million total, $888.1 million WW)
8. The Breadwinner – $3.4 million ($13.8 million total, $13.8 million WW)
9. Pressure – $3 million ($11.2 million total, $11.2 million WW)
10. The Devil Wears Prada 2 – $2.8 million ($215 million total, $663.6 million WW)