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Box Office Mojo – The Business of Hollywood Thread
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And at no point does this supposedly professionally written article contemplate that Disney training its audience to wait for its films on D+ might impact their films’ cinema performance.
They do say the following, but I understand where you’re coming from:
So far, the “Star Wars” installment has generated $137.4 million domestically and $246.6 million globally. It’s found money in the eyes of cinema operators, who knew Disney could have dropped “The Mandalorian and Grogu” on its streaming service. For the studio, which produced the space opera spinoff for $165 million, movie theaters represent another revenue stream before the movie lands on Disney+ — not to mention the hordes of Grogu toy sales.
I haven’t seen the movie, but from reviews and viewer comments, this really should have been Season 4.
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Heh. Looks like Backrooms might overtake Mandalorian and Grogu, which would be very funny indeed (as we’re talking a 10 million vs. a 300 million budget).
God, I really want to see Backrooms, but I probably won’t be able to catch it in the theatre.
I really want to see Backrooms myself. I didn’t make it over the weekend but hope to very soon.
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Jared Leto continues his franchise-killing streak.
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Jared Leto continues his franchise-killing streak.
I saw a review that said Jared Leto was the best thing in it. Which sounds like a compliment at first…
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Jared Leto continues his franchise-killing streak.
I saw a review that said Jared Leto was the best thing in it. Which sounds like a compliment at first…
The best thing about falling off a cliff is the view on the way down.
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beloved fantasy franchise
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It’s not all doom and gloom for Masters of the Universe, though. Following early screening in May, the movie earned positive reactions, with critics calling it “one of the biggest surprises of 2026,” comparing it to the likes of Marvel’s Thor and Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s also fair to say that the box office is a little unpredictable at this moment in time, with original horror movies Obsession and Backrooms smashing expectations and beating The Mandalorian and Grogu on the charts. Perhaps Masters of the Universe can do the same.
It’ll be interesting to see how this one fans out. I think Masters of the Universe is indeed not as beloved a franchise as some producers may have thought, to the nostalgia effect getting our generation into the theatres might not really be there.
But the trailer really does look like it’s a very fun movie for teenagers, and if that’s the case, it may catch on by word of mouth after a bit.1 user thanked author for this post.
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beloved fantasy franchise
Isn’t that the song from Sense8?
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beloved fantasy franchise
Isn’t that the song from Sense8?
Sense8 got that song from a beloved fantasy franchise.
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beloved fantasy franchise
Isn’t that the song from Sense8?
Sense8 got that song from a beloved fantasy franchise.
MTV is a beloved fantasy franchise?
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beloved fantasy franchise
Isn’t that the song from Sense8?
Sense8 got that song from a beloved fantasy franchise.
MTV is a beloved fantasy franchise?
Jersey Shore, specifically.
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UPDATED AFTER EXCLUSIVE: Paramount-Miramax’s Scary Movie will win the weekend, but Fathom Entertainment’s YouTube sensation The Amazing Digital Circus led Thursday with a reported $7.8M at 2,235 theaters in its first regular day of release. Sources believe the pic’s weekend will be extremely front-loaded. Others were seeing $8M+ for the Glitch Productions animated finale to the cult series that also had a run on Netflix.
Scary Movie posted $7.7M in previews. Amazon MGM Studio’s Masters of the Universe wound up at $4.4M, close to where we were spotting them. Updated Rotten Tomatoes for Scary Movie is 30% Rotten for critics, 69% audience, while He-Man and friends are 70% certified fresh with critics, 88% with audiences. Both pics are sharing PLFs with Masters of the Universe conquering some of Mandalorian and Grogu‘s Imax auditoriums.
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PREVIOUS EXCLUSIVE: Paramount-Miramax’s reboot Scary Movie as of right now is having the first laugh (and ultimately the last) at the box office, and big, with an estimated $7.5M in previews that began at 2 p.m. Thursday. Meanwhile, Amazon MGM Studios’ $170M production of Mattel and Escape Artists’ Masters of the Universe is eyeing around $4M. That Travis Knight-directed take of the 1980s toys and cartoon series began its showtimes at 2 p.m. as well.
More in link…
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SUNDAY AM: Paramount-Miramax’s Scary Movie didn’t let go of its record this weekend with the best opening the Wayans Brothers franchise has ever seen in its 26-history with $55M, and even better, it marks the comedy fratellos return to the franchise after the original Scary Movie and Scary Movie 2. As we told you all along the movie reps a major comeback for pure comedies on the big screen, the best since 2014’s 22 Jump Streets and the best domestic star for a Paramount comedy ever ahead of 2010’s Jackass 3D ($50.3M). Miramax fully financed this $30M production (sometimes the co-owned Paramount studio sells foreign to raise funds on a pic).
Amazon MGM Studios’ Masters of the Universe, eh, not so good with $29.3M for a pic that cost $170M before P&A (Exhibit As — Tron Ares $33.2M opening domestic, $220M production cost; Joker: Folie a Deux $37.6M domestic opening, $190M production cost; Running Man $16.4M opening, $110M production cost).
Still even with Masters of the Universe, and great turnout by Fathom Entertainment’s YouTube craze The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act (from director Gooseworx and score by Alexander Burke), the overall weekend box office is the second best post Covid for weekend 23 with a near $183.2M, +61% from a year ago per Rentrak.
Beams Rentrak’s Head of Marketplace Trends, Paul Dergarabedian, “The first billion-dollar month of May for movie theaters at the domestic box office since 2019 is on the books and has created momentum for a June to remember at the multiplex.”
The 2026 domestic box office year to date is about to touch $4 billion (now at $3.966 billion), 13.3% ahead of the Jan. 1-June 7 frame a year ago.
For more of a deep dive into Scary Movie and Masters of the Universe, go here.
Updated top 10
1) Scary Movie (Par)
3,490 theaters, Fri $24.8M, Sat $17.6M Sun $12.6M 3-day $55M/Wk 12) Masters of the Universe (Amz)
3,677 theaters, Fri $11.7M,Sat $10M Sun $7.5M 3-day $29.3M/Wk 13) Backrooms (A24)
3,565 (+123) theaters, Fri $7.9M (-79%), Sat $10.4M Sun $7.5M 3-day $25.9M (-68%), Total $135M /Wk 24) Obsession (Foc)
2,900 (+119) theaters, Fri $7.5M Sat $9.77M Sun $8.3M 3-day $25.6M (-7%) Total $152.1M/Wk 45) Amazing Digital Circus (Fath)
2,221 theaters, Fri $4.6M, Sat $5.1M Sun $2.8M 3-day $12.7M, Total $21M, Wk 16) Mandalorian and Grogu (Dis)
3,355 theaters, Fri $2.5M (-61%) Sat $4.3M Sun $3.2M 3-day $10M (-59%) Total $155.8M/Wk 37) Michael (LG)
2,636 (-482) theaters, Fri $2.1M Sat $3M Sun $2.47M 3-day $7.7M (-35%) Total $354.2M/Wk 78) The Breadwinner (Sony)
3,252 theaters, Fri $1M Sat $1.4M Sun $975K 3-day $3.4M (-54%), Total $13.8M/Wk 29) Pressure (Foc)
1,855 (+26) theaters, Fri $760K Sat $1.3M Sun $880K, 3-day $3M (-48%), Total $11.1M/Wk 210) Devil Wears Prada 2 (20th)
1,800 (-850) theaters, Fri $770K Sat $1.2M Sun $830K 3-day $2.8M (-52%) Total $214.97M/Wk 6___________________
SATURDAY AM UPDATE: Paramount-Miramax’s Scary Movie got louder yesterday, taking its first day/previews to $24.7M, a great thing on a night when there was a fierce battle happening in night 2 of the NBA Finals between the NY Knicks and San Antonio Spurs, 105-104. That will kick the Wayans Brothers movie up to $56M, again the best ever opening in the franchise’s 26-year history.
However, this is a huge comeback for comedies. You can point to the uber success of Deadpool and Wolverine, Barbie and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice post-Covid, but their brands and legacy more than any generated traffic. When was the last time a comedy (non-action comedy, mind you, unlike the last two Bad Boys sequels) opened to $50M+? Try 2014’s 22 Jump Street at $57M. The reboot gets a C+, which is on par with Scary Movie 4 but under the series B CinemaScore highs of Scary Movie 2 and 3. The Michael Tiddes-directed comedy gets a good 63% definite recommend in Screen Engine/Rentrak PostTrak exits. PLF screens are driving 26% of the 3-day gross. We’re hearing that Scary Movie is taking off in France.
Also, note that the under-35 strong Backrooms could also be lighter this weekend due to Scary Movie: That age demo is coming out to Scary Movie at 75%. This is playing to the younger crowd, exactly as Paramount intended it to be. Hispanic and Latino moviegoers are leading on Scary Movie at 40% (and a very strong 66% definite recommend) followed by 28% Black, 24% Caucasian and 4% Asian American. 58% guy leaning, with men over 25 at 42%, women over 25 at 27%, men under 25 at 17% (and the best definite recommend at 68%), and women under 25 at 15%. Scary Movie is playing even throughout the U.S. but best in the East, South, South Central and West. The AMC Burbank (CA) is the leading single-location gross at $71K.
Paramount motion picture global marketing czar Josh Goldstine triggered the momentum here in a hysterical and satirical social media and digital campaign that left millions in stitches. Per iSpot, Amazon MGM Studios’ Masters of the Universe outspent Paramount’s linear campaign on Scary Movie, $12.3M to $2.8M. Scary Movie ran spots during NBA, The Price Is Right, SNL, The Floor and American’s Got Talent.
Amazon MGM Studios’ Masters of the Universe was lighter at $11.7M previews/first Friday with the studio believing there’s still a path to $30.1M, which is where tracking was. Others see it lower. We will see. Pic gets a B CinemaScore and good 64% definite recommend for the general audience with kids under 12 enjoying it at 96% in the top two and a 57% must see right away.
Part of the push for this $170M production was to spur another wave of Mattel toy-buying for the muscle man barbarian action figure line, which was just revived for the movie since the Kevin Smith animated series a few years ago. Imax and PLF screens rep 44% of the weekend. Pic is playing evenly across North America but best in the South, South Central and Mountain regions. AMC Burbank in LA is currently the pic’s top grossing site with north of $47K.
Masters of the Universe ran spots during the NBA, the Winter Olympics, Sports Center and La Casa de los Famosos.
Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel wanted a new generation to discover this movie, but kids under 12 only repped 4% of the audience last night, with the over 35 at 57% still dominant, and the over 45 who grew up on the 1980s animated series at 36%. Sixty-eight percent guys, with dads outnumbering moms, 71% to 29%. And, yes, boys under 12 at 82% are far ahead of girls at 18%.
No, a $30M domestic start for a $170M production doesn’t scream ‘The Power of Gray Skull’, but we’ll wait to see where He-Man and friends are overseas tomorrow. Also, let’s see if the scores attract more families in the legs of it all.
A24’s Backrooms came in with a second Friday of $7.9M in what’s looking like a $25.7M second frame, -68%. That was to be expected given its B- CinemaScore and the fact that this is a mega-fan fueled property: It means more to them than the non-frequent moviegoer who may give it a shot. Backrooms is still prevailing with an under 35 crowd at 81%.
The continued jaw dropper as far as its hold is Focus Features’ Obsession from YouTube content creator Curry Barker, which in its fourth outing, is not far behind Backrooms with $24.8M, -9%; again the best fourth weekend ever for a horror movie, beating Blair Witch Project. Older forty and fifty something couples are finding this movie, and leaving the theater in a battle of the sexes debate, much like the Gen Z and millennial crowd it was created for.
Fathom Entertainment’s The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act posted a $4.3M second day. The outlook is $22M over four-days, $14M over 3 days — again, a record start for the events cinema and theatrical re-release label. No CinemaScore or PostTrak exits, but Rotten Tomatoes audience score is at a stellar 94%. When it comes to Fathom events, most of the time, it’s in-theater marketing. No TV spots here.
NBA Finals Game 3 isn’t until Monday, so don’t expect any impact on the rest of the weekend which is ringing up an estimated $184.7M, the second best result for the 23rd weekend of the year post-Covid after 2022’s $214.8M, and +64% over the same early June frame a year ago.
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However, this is a huge comeback for comedies.
Are they talking about comedies or Scary Movie in this paragraph?
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Kids these days might prefer tech to toys, but Woody, Buzz Lightyear and Jessie still got it.
“Toy Story 5” ruled over the box office with $160 million from 4,425 North America theaters, landing on the higher end of expectations while securing the biggest domestic debut of the year over Universal’s “Super Mario Galaxy Movie” ($131.7 million). The animated sequel also ranks as the largest start in Disney and Pixar’s beloved “Toy Story” franchise, not adjusted for inflation, supplanting the record set by 2019’s “Toy Story 4” with $120 million. And it scored the second-largest animated opening weekend in history, behind only 2018’s “Incredibles 2” with $182.7 million.
Overseas, “Toy Story” opened to $152 million for a sensational global tally of $312 million. It carries a $250 million budget, not including the global marketing expenses.
“Toy Story 5” should remain the de facto choice among families, considering the sterling reviews (94% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audience scores (“A” grade on CinemaScore exit polls). Directed by Pixar veteran Andrew Stanton, the fifth installment follows Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack) and the gang of anthropomorphic toys as their owner Bonnie becomes addicted to her new favorite gadget, a kiddie smart tablet known as Lilypad. If that crew wasn’t enough pedigree, Taylor Swift wrote a new song, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” for the soundtrack.
Although original animation has been challenged in recent years, animated sequels have exploded in popularity at the box office. Disney’s 2024 follow-up “Inside Out 2” and 2025’s “Zootopia 2,” for example, ended their runs with $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion respectively. If those films are any indication of the theatrical trajectory for “Toy Story 5,” the newest entry is likely to end up as the highest grossing in the franchise (that’s currently “Toy Story 4” with $1.07 billion), as well as one of the biggest movies of the year.
Family moviegoing has been leading the industry since it came roaring back from the pandemic in 2023. A lot of the genre’s success is coming from sequels and live-action remakes,” says David A. Gross, who publishes the box office newsletter FranchiseRe. “Pixar and Disney are particularly good at growing their series from episode to episode. It’s extremely impressive.”
In a distant second place, Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi adventure “Disclosure Day” added $17 million from 3,824 locations, a sharp 62% drop from its debut. Although not catastrophic, that kind of decline suggests the film isn’t resonating beyond the core demographic of older males, who grew up on Spielberg’s vast filmography. Younger generations, meanwhile, have been gravitating toward offerings from Gen Z filmmakers like Curry Barker’s “Obsession” and Kane Parsons’ “Backrooms.” So far, “Disclosure Day” has generated $78 million domestically and $82 million internationally, bringing the global total to $160 million after two weekends of release. Since the PG-13 movie cost $115 million (and exhibitors keep about half of revenues), “Disclosure Day” is estimated to need around $300 million globally to be profitable.
“Obsession,” now in its sixth weekend of release, was surprisingly not far from “Disclosure Day” on box office charts with $14.2 million from 3,053 theaters. Those ticket sales were down just 25% from the prior weekend, marking another scant decline for Focus Features’ low-budget horror sensation. “Obsession” has generated a sensational $215 million domestically and $333 million worldwide, making the film a wildly profitable success.
At No. 4, “Backrooms” had another solid turnout with $7.3 million from 2,851 locations in its fourth frame, a 35% dip. Another breakout horror hit, “Backrooms” has amassed a remarkable $175 million in North America and $301 million globally to date. It’s by far A24’s highest-grossing movie of all time, a distinction that previously belonged to “Marty Supreme” with $191 million.
Paramount’s “Scary Movie” rounded out the top five with $6.7 million from 2,725 venues, bringing domestic ticket sales to $97.4 million and $201.9 million worldwide. Produced by Miramax for $30 million, the sixth “Scary Movie” is already enjoying bloody-good profit margins.
Two other films launched alongside “Toy Story 5,” and just managed to crack the top 10 while playing in far fewer theaters. Neon’s festival breakout “Leviticus” opened at No. 8 with $2.74 million from 1,076 locations while A24’s R-rated “The Death of Robin Hood,” starring Hugh Jackman, was close behind in ninth place with $2.65 million from 1,782 locations.
“Leviticus” doesn’t have a grade on CinemaScore, though stellar reviews suggest the buzzy supernatural horror movie could remain a big screen draw through the summer season. Adrian Chiarella wrote and directed the low-budget film, which follows two teen boys who meet at conversion therapy.
“The Death of Robin Hood,” a revisionist take on the oft-rebooted folk legend, meanwhile, might struggle to stick around given the mixed reviews and tepid audience scores. The film, directed by Michael Sarnoski (“A Quiet Place: Day One”), holds a “C+” grade on CinemaScore and 69% on Rotten Tomatoes, neither of which bode well for box office longevity. A24 acquired domestic rights for around $4 million.
Elsewhere, Amazon MGM’s “Masters of the Universe” and Disney’s “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” managed to hold steady — with drops of 37% and 15%, respectively — though nowhere near enough to salvage their overall grosses.
“Masters of the Universe” will leave theaters as one of the year’s biggest bombs. The adaptation of the ’80s Mattel toy has added $5.6 million from 2,517 venues in its third weekend, bringing revenues to $56 million in North America and $101.9 million worldwide against a $200 million budget.
“The Mandalorian and Grogu,” a spinoff of the popular Disney+ TV series, isn’t quite as big a dud but doesn’t instill a ton of confidence in “Star Wars” as a cinematic property. The film dropped to seventh place with $3.9 million in its fifth outing. The space opera spinoff has earned $172 million domestically and more than $320 million globally against a $165 million price tag.
This summer is poised to be the biggest post-COVID season, thanks to sleeper hits as well as new installments in reliable franchises. Revenues for the four-month stretch should easily top $4 billion for only the second time (2023, when “Barbenheimer” fever was alive and well, was the first) since the pandemic upended the movie theater business. Popcorn season is currently just 1.8% behind summer 2019, as well as 15% ahead of last summer, according to Rentrak. Next weekend sees the release of DC’s “Supergirl” and “Jackass: Best and Last,” with tentpoles like “Despicable Me” spinoff “Minions & Monsters,” Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” on the horizon.
“After last week’s breather, the box office is back to running ahead of the pre-pandemic average,” Gross says. “Business is excellent.”
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