'Scary Movie' opens franchise-best; 'Masters of the Universe' struggles

Scary Movie, the sixth entry in the long-running franchise now titled simply Scary Movie, debuted at number one with $55 million domestically and $105 million worldwide. That marks the best opening for the series in its 26-year history, and the film leaned heavily on parodies of recent hits from the horror boom, including Get Out, Weapons, M3GAN and Backrooms.

Masters of the Universe arrived as the other major new release but underperformed, earning $29.3 million domestically and $54.3 million worldwide against production costs upwards of $200 million. Movies typically need to make roughly two to 2.5 times their budget to turn a profit, and the biggest audience for Masters of the Universe skewed 45–54, suggesting the film appealed more to nostalgic older viewers than to younger audiences.

Outside the top two, Backrooms rose to a $195.8 million global total, becoming A24's highest-grossing film and proving especially profitable on a reported $10 million budget.

scary movie, masters movie, box office, opening weekend, get out, m3gan, backrooms, a24, budget, nostalgia