The summer movie season continues to deliver surprises as unconventional films drive ticket sales nationwide.
Following three consecutive weeks where independent horror films ruled theaters, the comedy parody ‘Scary Movie’ claimed the weekend’s top position with $55 million in ticket sales, according to studio projections released Sunday. The performance easily surpassed the disappointing results for ‘Masters of the Universe.’
Movie theaters have witnessed an unusual shift recently, with younger audiences gravitating toward horror films ‘Obsession’ and ‘Backrooms,’ both created by filmmakers who started on YouTube. These productions have even managed to eclipse The Walt Disney Co.’s ‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu.’
Comedy emerged as the weekend’s surprise victor. Despite the genre’s struggles in recent theatrical releases, the sixth ‘Scary Movie’ installment achieved the franchise’s strongest opening ever with $105.5 million in worldwide earnings. The Wayans brothers’ latest effort even surpassed its main comedic inspiration, the ‘Scream’ series. Earlier this year, ‘Scream 7’ launched with $97 million globally.
Paramount Pictures handles distribution for both film series, while Miramax served as producer for the newest ‘Scary Movie.’ The sequel features writing contributions from Marlon, Shawn, Keenan and Craig Wayans, signaling the family’s comeback to the series after leaving due to creative disagreements following 2001’s ‘Scary Movie 2.’
‘This is an outstanding opening for a comedy sequel this far into the series,’ said David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm FranchiseRe. ‘It’s a huge bounceback after the last episode crashed in 2013 when Anna Faris and Regina Hall were excluded. The weekend figure is triple the average for the genre.’
Critical reception proved lukewarm with 26% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, while moviegoers gave it a ‘B’ rating through CinemaScore. However, these mixed reactions didn’t prevent the $30-million production from overwhelming its higher-budget rivals.
‘Masters of the Universe,’ an action-adventure film drawing from the 1980s cartoon series and Mattel toy line, struggled to resurrect the inactive property. The Amazon MGM release, serving as the second film in the franchise after a 1987 movie with the same name, earned $29.3 million in domestic theaters.
The film starring Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man brought in an additional $25 million from international markets. Given production costs approaching $200 million, the opening weekend needed significantly stronger numbers to suggest future profitability.
This represents Mattel Studios’ debut release since 2023’s ‘Barbie.’ Following that film’s remarkable $1.45 billion earnings, ‘Masters of the Universe’ appears headed toward disappointment for the toy manufacturer.
A24’s ‘Backrooms,’ which led last weekend’s rankings, experienced a sharp decline in its second frame, falling 68% to $25.9 million. Despite this drop, ‘Backrooms,’ a $10 million production based on 20-year-old Kane Parson’s YouTube content, continues breaking records. The film has become A24’s most successful release ever with $212 million worldwide, surpassing ‘Marty Supreme.’
Nearly tied for third position, Focus Features’ ‘Obsession’ earned $25.6 million during its fourth weekend. This represented just a 7% decrease from the prior weekend for 26-year-old Curry Barker’s horror creation. Without adjusting for inflation, no horror film has achieved better fourth-weekend performance.
‘Obsession,’ following a man hoping for reciprocated romantic feelings, was produced for under $1 million. The film has now accumulated $152.1 million domestically and $224.8 million globally, setting a new record for Focus.
During its third weekend, ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ dropped to sixth place with $10 million. It was even overtaken by Fathom Entertainment’s ‘The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act,’ which combines the final two episodes of the animated series and collected $12.7 million.
Several other releases reached significant benchmarks.
Lionsgate’s Michael Jackson biographical film ‘Michael’ became the studio’s most successful movie ever with $898 million worldwide. This achievement places it ahead of the top-earning films from both the studio’s ‘Twilight’ and ‘Hunger Games’ series, without inflation adjustments.
Meanwhile, 2026 welcomed its first billion-dollar earner as ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ surpassed $1 billion globally for Universal.
The weekend’s overall performance jumped an impressive 63% compared to the corresponding period last year, according to Comscore data. Annual ticket sales have increased more than 13%. Steven Spielberg’s ‘Disclosure Day’ is scheduled to debut next weekend.
Final domestic numbers will be announced Monday. The following rankings reflect estimated ticket sales from Friday through Sunday at theaters across the United States and Canada, per Comscore:
1. ‘Scary Movie,’ $55 million.
2. ‘Masters of the Universe,’ $29.3 million.
3. ‘Backrooms,’ $25.9 million.
4. ‘Obsession,’ $25.6 million.
5. ‘The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act,’ $12.7 million.
6. ‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,’ $10 million.
7. ‘Michael,’ $7.7 million.
8. ‘The Breadwinner,’ $3.4 million.
9. ‘Pressure,’ $3 million.
10. ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2,’ $2.8 million.
