Scary Movie dominated the weekend box office and it was not particularly close. The horror comedy franchise record debut pulled in massive crowds and anchored a Top 5 where horror titles claimed three separate spots. Backrooms kept rolling in its second weekend and Obsession showed once again why it has become the year’s most stubborn overperformer.
Scary Movie Box Office Debut Breaks Franchise Records
The big winner of the weekend was Scary Movie, which ruled the box office with an impressive $55 million domestic opening.
Records fell this weekend. The Scary Movie box office debut came in at $55 million domestically, topping the previous franchise high set by Scary Movie 4 nearly twenty years ago and landing well above what most tracking had predicted. Anna Faris, Regina Hall, and the Wayans family brought the band back together and audiences responded immediately. Getting people through the door on opening weekend was the easy part. Keeping them talking afterward is what separates a good debut from a great one, and the word of mouth building around this one suggests the momentum is nowhere near done.
Internationally the comedy horror sequel has already crossed the $100 million mark, putting the Scary Movie franchise record debut in an even stronger position heading into the weeks ahead.
Masters Of The Universe Faces An Uphill Battle
Landing in second place was Masters of the Universe, which opened with $29.3 million.
$29.3 million sounds decent until you put it next to a reported $200 million production budget. At that point the math gets uncomfortable fast. Masters of the Universe spent years fighting through development hell to finally reach theaters, and the reward for all that patience is a debut that raises more questions than it answers. Mattel‘s He-Man property has a devoted fanbase but devoted fanbases alone do not cover $200 million. The next few weekends will determine whether this one can grow beyond the people who were already sold on it.
Backrooms Continues Its Remarkable Run
After exploding out of the gate last weekend, Backrooms secured third place with another strong showing on the weekend box office charts.
The horror phenomenon brought in $25.9 million during its second frame, pushing its domestic total to $135 million. Even with a significant second weekend decline, the film remains one of the biggest success stories of the year. Global earnings have now climbed above $212 million, making Backrooms one of the most successful releases in A24 history. What began as an internet inspired concept has become a genuine weekend box office force, and Scary Movie dominated the conversation above it all with the kind of franchise record opening that changes how the whole chart gets discussed.
Obsession Refuses To Slow Down
Few films have demonstrated the kind of staying power Obsession continues to show on the weekend box office.
The thriller earned another $25.6 million in its fourth weekend, slipping just 7% from the previous frame. That kind of hold is virtually unheard of for most wide releases at this stage of a theatrical run. Obsession has steadily transformed into one of the year’s breakout sensations, built on strong audience buzz and an unusual number of repeat viewings. With more than $152 million domestically already banked, the film continues to outperform nearly every expectation that existed when it first arrived in theaters.
The Amazing Digital Circus Brings Internet Fandom To The Big Screen
Rounding out the Top 5 was The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act with $19.4 million.
The online animated phenomenon successfully translated its massive digital audience into genuine ticket sales, giving theaters another compelling example of how internet native brands can become legitimate weekend box office attractions. Its strong debut adds yet another unique success story to one of the most interesting charts of the year.
Horror Movies Dominate One Of The Summer’s Strongest Weekends
The biggest takeaway from the weekend is not simply that Scary Movie dominated the box office with a franchise record opening.
It is that three horror driven titles occupied the upper reaches of the charts simultaneously. Between the Scary Movie box office debut, Backrooms continuing its remarkable run, and Obsession refusing to fade, audiences demonstrated once again that horror movies dominate in ways that no other genre can quite replicate on a consistent basis. The summer movie season is only getting started, with Steven Spielberg‘s highly anticipated Disclosure Day arriving next weekend as one of the season’s most expected events.
But before Hollywood shifts its full attention to Spielberg‘s latest, horror has firmly claimed the spotlight. Scary Movie delivered a franchise record, Backrooms and Obsession kept rolling, and the weekend box office made one thing perfectly clear: scares remain one of the most powerful draws in theaters regardless of the season.
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