Topline
“Scary Movie” opened with $55 million at the domestic box office over the weekend, according to early numbers first reported by the Hollywood trade publications—breaking a record for the biggest opening weekend for the horror-comedy franchise, while several of the year’s biggest releases broke records of their own.
Horror films had another strong weekend at North American theaters, and “Scary Movie” and “Obsession” both broke records.
Getty Images for Paramount Pictures
Key Facts
“Scary Movie,” the sixth installment in the long-running horror comedy series that began in 2000, grossed about $55 million domestically and came in first over the weekend, while pulling in another $50.5 million in international markets.
“Obsession,” the horror feature directed by former YouTuber Curry Barker, only posted a 7% decline for its fourth weekend in theaters—a rare feat for the film that has now grossed $152.1 million in North America and almost $200 million globally, making it distributor Focus Features’ most successful film at the box office ever.
“Michael,” the Michael Jackson biopic that already broke biopic records when it debuted in April, grossed another $7.7 million in North America over the weekend—breaking another record as it becomes distributor Lionsgate’s highest-grossing film worldwide, surpassing “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.”
Meanwhile, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” the animated feature adaptation of the beloved Nintendo character that debuted at the beginning of April, became the first film of 2026 to surpass $1 billion globally at the box office.
HOW DID OTHER MOVIES PERFORM THIS WEEKEND??
Despite a widespread marketing campaign, Amazon MGM’s “Masters of the Universe,” the most recent adaptation of the Mattel franchise, only grossed about $29.3 million over its opening weekend, falling a distant second behind “Scary Movie.” It’s unclear if the new He-Man adaptation will turn out to be a flop at this point, but production costs reportedly reached as high as $200 million before marketing, Variety reported. “Backrooms,” another new horror film directed by Kane Parsons, also a young director with early success on YouTube, grossed another $25.9 million over its second weekend in theaters. “Backrooms” debuted last weekend with $81 million in North America, breaking the record for biggest debut for its distributor A24. “Obsession” came in a close fourth place, grossing another $25.6 million. Finally, another YouTube success story broke through to take fifth place at the domestic box office this weekend. “The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act,” an animated feature based on a viral YouTube webseries, grossed an estimated $12.7 million at domestic theaters.
Big Number
$2.3 billion. That’s how much both “Super Mario” films have grossed so far, following the first film’s worldwide blockbuster success in 2023 for a $1.3 billion global gross. Even though Universal Pictures has only released two feature films starring the iconic Nintendo character, the franchise is already the ninth-biggest animated series of all time.
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