As the Gen Z horror wunderkinds behind Backrooms and Obsession continue their box office run, this weekend will see two new big studio releases with Paramount’s Scary Movie and Amazon MGM’s Masters of the Universe.
Scary Movie is opening wide this weekend, earning an impressive $7.7 million over Thursday night previews at 2,800 locations. It will expand to 3,400 locations in North America for the weekend, eyeing a total in the mid-$40 millions.
The R-rated comedy, which is opening in 53 territories abroad, is the return of the spoof film franchise that sends up horror movie tropes, popular culture and current events. The film, which was made in association with original studio Miramax, is the sixth installment in the franchise, but the first in over two decades to feature the series originators, the Wayans Brothers.
Directed by Michael Tiddes, Scary Movie also sees the return of franchise stars Anna Faris and Regina King. The film hasn’t been a favorite among critics, with a current Metacritic score of 37.
The other new opening this weekend is Amazon MGM and Mattel Film’s Masters of the Universe, which landed $4.4 million in previews on its way to an estimated weekend domestic total in the mid-$30 millions.
Masters sees Nicholas Galitzine star as Prince Adam/He-Man, the toy-turned-beloved 80s animated character. After being separated from his home world, Adam finds his way back to Eternia, which he needs to save from the villainous Skeletor (Jared Leto). Other classic Masters characters like Teela (Camila Mendes), Duncan/Man-At-Arms (Idris Elba) and Evil-Lyn (Alison Brie) are on hand for the adventure directed by Travis Knight. Masters has fared better with critics, with a Metacritic score of 54.
Elsewhere, Fathom Entertainment released The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act, a theatrical release of the cult Australian adult webseries, earning $7.8 million on Thursday at over 2200 locations, outearning both Scary Movie and Masters.
Looking to continue its box office dominance is Backrooms, in its sophomore weekend, along with Obsession, now in its fourth weekend. Each movie has already broken its respective fair share of box office records. In only its first week of release, Backrooms has become the highest-grossing domestic hit for studio A24, beating out Timothée Chalamet-starrer Marty Supreme, while Kane Parsons is the youngest director ever to earn the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office. As for Curry Barker’s Obsession, the film is the first film outside of Christmas since 1982’s E.T.: The Extraterrestrial to have second and third weekends bigger than its first.
Backrooms, the $10 million horror based on Parsons’ viral YouTube short film series, added another $5 million on Thursday, with projections placing its weekend box office total over $45 million. In its fourth weekend, Barker’s Obsession, which was made for only $750,000 and picked up at the Toronto International Film Festival by Focus, is creeping closer to a global milestone of $200 million.
Other holdovers are Star Wars entry The Mandalorian and Grogu and comedian Nate Bargatze’s first-ever movie, The Breadwinner, as well as Michael Jackson biopic, Michael.
