It’s a horror trifecta. Paramount’s “Scary Movie” ruled at box office with $55 million in its opening weekend, extending an unexpected streak for, well, scary movies in the height of summer movie season. The R-rated parody was joined at the top of North American charts by “Backrooms” and “Obsession,” two horror films that captured lightning in a bottle with Gen Z crowds.
Buoyed by positive word-of-mouth as well as the power of nostalgia and horror, “Scary Movie” landed above expectations and cemented a record opening for the franchise. The sixth installment in the 25-year-old series overtook the benchmark held by 2006’s “Scary Movie 4” with $49.7 million (not adjusted for inflation). Miramax financed “Scary Movie” for $30 million, so the horror-comedy is poised to reap financial rewards. Globally, it has earned $105.5 million from 53 markets.
”This is an outstanding opening for a comedy sequel this far into its series,” says David A. Gross, who publishes the box office newsletter FranchiseRe. “It’s also a huge bounce-back after the last [installment] in 2013 crashed when Anna Faris and Regina Hall were excluded.”
“Scary Movie” easily secured the No. 1 spot over this weekend’s other major new release, Amazon MGM’s sword-and-planet adventure “Masters of the Universe,” which debuted at No. 2 with a soft $29.3 million in North America. It’s an underwhelming start for a movie that cost nearly $200 million to produce, not including the marketing budget. It’ll require substantial staying power to justify its price tag, considering that theater owners get to keep roughly 50% of ticket sales.
