'Scary Movie' Gets Best Comedy Opening in Years — 'Masters of the Universe' Flopped
Nobody saw this coming. A $30 million Wayans brothers comedy just beat a $200 million sword-and-sorcery blockbuster at the box office — and it wasn't even close.
Scary Movie debuted at number one this weekend with $55 million domestically and $105.5 million globally — a franchise best that also topped this year's Scream 7, which opened to $97 million worldwide earlier in 2026. Both franchises are distributed by Paramount, which probably isn't complaining.
The new film marks the Wayans family's return to the franchise after they walked away following creative differences after Scary Movie 2 in 2001. Co-written by Marlon, Shawn, Keenan, and Craig Wayans, the movie landed a 26% on Rotten Tomatoes and a B CinemaScore — reviews that would sink most films. Audiences apparently didn't care.
"This is an outstanding opening for a comedy sequel this far into the series," said box office analyst David A. Gross. "It's a huge bounce-back after the last episode crashed in 2013. The weekend figure is triple the average for the genre."
Comedy as a theatrical genre has been widely written off for years. Scary Movie just made that argument a lot harder to sustain.
Masters of the Universe Needed a Miracle and Got a Modest Opening
On the other end of the spectrum — Masters of the Universe, the long-awaited revival of the He-Man franchise starring Nicholas Galitzine, opened to $29.3 million domestically and added $25 million overseas. For a film that reportedly cost nearly $200 million to produce that is not a good number. Profitability looks unlikely without a dramatic turnaround in coming weeks.
This is Mattel Studios' first major release since Barbie pulled in $1.45 billion in 2023. That was always going to be a tough act to follow — but a $54 million global opening for a $200 million movie is a different kind of problem than just not matching Barbie's historic run. He-Man may be heading back to the vault.
The Real Box Office Story: YouTube Filmmakers Are Taking Over Theaters
The most interesting thing happening at theaters right now isn't Scary Movie or He-Man. It's the fact that two low-budget horror films made by YouTubers-turned-filmmakers have been quietly dominating for weeks.
Backrooms — a $10 million A24 film based on 20-year-old Kane Parsons's YouTube series — dropped 68% in its second weekend but still pulled $25.9 million. It has now crossed $212 million worldwide, making it A24's highest-grossing film ever, surpassing Marty Supreme.
Obsession — made for less than $1 million by 26-year-old Curry Barker — is somehow still in theaters in its fourth weekend, dropping only 7%. It has grossed $152 million domestically and $224.8 million worldwide, setting a record for Focus Features. No horror film in history has had a better fourth weekend without accounting for inflation.
Both films are outperforming Disney's Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, which fell to sixth place this weekend with $10 million in its third week.
Michael Jackson Biopic and Super Mario Cross Major Milestones
The Michael Jackson biopic Michael became Lionsgate's highest-grossing film ever this weekend, crossing $898 million globally — surpassing both the Twilight and Hunger Games franchises.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie crossed $1 billion worldwide for Universal, becoming 2026's first billion-dollar film.
Overall the weekend was up 63% from the same weekend last year. Ticket sales for the year are up more than 13%. Next weekend Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day debuts — which will be the next major test of whether the summer's momentum holds.
The takeaway from this weekend is hard to argue with. Audiences will show up for comedy when it's done right. Audiences will show up for horror when it feels fresh. And a $200 million budget is no guarantee of anything anymore.
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