Paramount/Miramax’s “Scary Movie” is on track for a No. 1 weekend with an estimated $56 million, powered by a strong opening that tops the franchise’s prior inflation-free record. Meanwhile, Amazon MGM’s “Masters of the Universe” is projected to miss expectati
The lights came up on a weekend that could have gone either way—just not for “Masters of the Universe.” “Scary Movie” is set to cruise to the No. 1 spot with an estimated $56 million opening weekend, following Friday’s tally of $24.7 million from 3,490 locations.
The Wayans Brothers’ horror spoof revival is blowing past two other studio contenders. including Amazon MGM’s “Masters of the Universe. ” which is shaping up as a big-budget bust. and A24/Chernin’s “Backrooms. ” which is proving as frontloaded as “Star Wars” film “The Mandalorian and Grogu. ” though with less than a tenth of the P&A spend.
For “Scary Movie,” the momentum isn’t just good—it’s historic. The sixth installment in a series that began in 2000 is earning the highest opening weekend for the franchise before inflation adjustment. The previous high was “Scary Movie 3” in 2003, which opened to $49.7 million.
Studios had hoped the film would pull in millennials who remember the series, while also drawing in Gen Z through parodies of recent horror hits like “Smile” and “Sinners.” The early numbers suggest that pitch is working.
Reception is mixed, but it isn’t the kind of split that usually kills a weekend. “Scary Movie. ” which leans hard into politically incorrect humor. has a 71% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and a more tepid CinemaScore grade of C+. By comparison. the first two “Scary Movie” movies—also directed by Damon and Marlon Wayans—earned CinemaScore grades of B and B-. respectively.
There’s also a notable contrast from Paramount’s 2025 revival of “The Naked Gun,” starring Liam Neeson and directed by Akiva Schaeffer, which received an A-.
Even with that softer grade, “Scary Movie” is already headed toward becoming a mid-budget theatrical hit. It carries a reported $30 million production budget, financed entirely by Miramax.
The gap between expectation and outcome is even clearer on the other end of the matchup. “Masters of the Universe” is looking powerless as it heads for an estimated $30 million opening from 3,677 locations. The film’s reported budget is at least $170 million—an investment that raises the stakes by itself.
The problem isn’t only the size of the spend. “Masters” is also up against a reception that doesn’t match what typically sparks a box office comeback. While it is getting better reception than “Scary Movie. ” it isn’t matching the “come back” signal that often comes with it. It has a B CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 66% from critics and 88% from audiences. Still. the CinemaScore grade trails the A- earned by both “The Mandalorian and Grogu” and director Travis Knight’s 2018 “Transformers” spinoff “Bumblebee.”.
With the live-action “He-Man” adaptation expected to bring nostalgic Gen X men to theaters. it likely needs a wider audience to recoup its production spend. The weekend lineup isn’t helping that cause much. “Scary Movie” and the other titles in the top 5 are drawing the under-30 crowd. and Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day. ” likely to attract older sci-fi fans. could further compress the audience pool. If word-of-mouth doesn’t spread fast, the math gets tighter.
“Backrooms” lands in third place with an industry estimated $25.4 million in its weekend, after a second weekend drop that mirrors “Mandalorian” at 69%—with “Backrooms” Friday revenue of $7.9 million, down 79% from its opening day.
That decline doesn’t appear to be the kind of threat A24 typically worries about. “Backrooms” had a production budget of just $10 million. and its running domestic total of $134.5 million through Sunday has already shattered the studio’s previous record of $97 million. set by “Marty Supreme” this past winter.
Longer-term, Focus Features’ “Obsession” is positioned for a bigger kind of win. In its fourth weekend, the $1 million smash indie horror film finally saw a weekend-to-weekend drop of just 9%. With $24.8 million grossed in its fourth frame. “Obsession” is on track to pass the $150 million domestic mark on Sunday and become just the fifth horror film to pass $200 million in North America before inflation adjustment.
Rounding out the top 5 is Fathom/Glitch’s “The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act,” projected for an industry estimated $14 million 3-day/$22 million 4-day weekend.
Fathom’s approach is also part of the story behind the numbers. With largely faith-based titles like “The Chosen” and “The Blind. ” along with anniversary re-releases such as the 15th anniversary of Laika’s “Coraline. ” the company has expanded beyond event releases. It now backs theatrical offerings with audiences that aren’t large enough for a full theatrical run. but are big enough to fill auditoriums for a weekend or two.
“The Last Act” fits that model perfectly. Fans packed into theaters on Thursday to see the conclusion two weeks before its release on YouTube. By comparison, Fathom’s release of the first set of episodes of “The Chosen: Last Supper” in March 2025 made $13 million in its first four days of release.
The weekend’s scoreboard is clear: “Scary Movie” is delivering the kind of opening that turns franchise nostalgia into real box office, while “Masters of the Universe” is confronting a budget and reception gap that may be too wide to bridge.
Scary Movie Masters of the Universe box office opening weekend Rotten Tomatoes CinemaScore Wayans Brothers Miramax Paramount Backrooms Obsession The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act Fathom Glitch Liam Neeson