“Masters of the Universe” key art.
Amazon MGM Studios
The power of Grayskull is glitching out in the second weekend of business for Masters of the Universe at the domestic box office.
The latest live-action feature film version of the 1980s toy line-turned-cartoon series featuring the heroic He-Man got off to a rough start in its opening weekend frame June 5-7 with $29.4 million from 3,667 North American theaters. Masters of the Universe, according to Variety, cost about $200 million to produce before marketing costs.
Director Travis Knight frames Masters of the Universe as a Prince Adam/He-Man origin story. Nicholas Galitzine stars as the muscular hero in the new version, which also features Idris Elba as Man-at-Arms Duncan, Camila Mendes as Teela and Jared Leto as the evil wizard Skeletor. The film also stars James Purefoy as King Randor, Charlotte Riley as Queen Marlena, Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn and Morena Baccarin as The Sorceress.
After Masters of the Universe’s soft opening weekend, it appears that things are going from bad to worse for Amazon MGM Studios’ release. Deadline is projecting a three-day tally of $9.4 million for the film in its second Friday to Sunday frame, which is a 68% drop in business from its opening weekend.
Should the projection hold, it will bring the film’s running domestic tally to $47.4 million.
Michael Johnston and Inde Navarette in “Obsession.”
Focus Features
‘Obsession’ And ‘Backrooms’ Are Still Hanging Tough In The Domestic Top 5
While Masters of the Universe earned enough to best both Obsession and Backrooms in its opening weekend, the film’s skid now has the He-Man movie trailing both indie horror films in its second frame.
Written and directed by Curry Barker, Obsession is projected by Deadline to earn $18 million in the film’s fifth frame for a second-place finish, marking a 29% drop in business from its fourth weekend in North American theaters. Should the projection hold, it will boost Obsession’s running tally to $176.1 million against the film’s shoestring budget of $750,000.
The trade publication also projects that director Kane Parsons’ horror hit Backrooms — which dropped 70% in business from its opening frame to its second weekend in theaters — will earn $12.4 million from 3,404 theaters, a 53% drop from last weekend. Should Deadline’s projection hold, it will increase the Backrooms’ domestic tally to $161.1 million against a $10 million production budget before marketing costs.
While Masters of the Universe projected 68% drop is harsh, Deadline projects that Scary Movie is taking a 72% dive in its second weekend at the box office. The Wayans Bros.’ horror movie spoof, which earned $54.3 million to open at No. 1 domestically last weekend, is projected by the Hollywood trade to earn $15.2 million from 3,504 North American venues to bring its 10-day total to $85.3 million through Sunday for a third-place finish.
Despite the massive drop, Scary Movie is still in great shape considering it had a production budget of $30 million (via Variety) before its marketing spend.
Not surprisingly, Deadline is projecting Steven Spielberg’s alien tale Disclosure Day to open at No. 1 with $42.5 million in ticket sales from 3,824 North American theaters. That’s good news for the film, considering that the trade’s pre-release projections pegged the film to open in the $30 million range. Per Variety, Disclosure Day had a $115 million production budget with a marketing spend of $80 million.
Note: This box report will be updated throughout the weekend as new numbers are released. The final numbers for this weekend’s domestic box office will be released on Monday.