“Scary Movie” surpasses itself at the box office and achieves the best premiere of the saga in 25 years
After the success of the first day of release, “Scary Movie” closed the weekend grossing $55 million in the United States
In an unexpected weekend, the horror genre has become the main protagonist of the billboard. “Scary Movie”, “Backrooms” and “Obsession” make up a triplet of fear that is sweeping theaters in the United States, demonstrating that today's audiences are hungry for scares, but also for nostalgia and fresh proposals.
“Scary Movie” returns with a bang
The sixth installment of the parody saga, 25 years after the start of the franchise, exceeded all expectations by grossing $55 million in its opening weekend in North America, the best figure of the series, according to Box Office Mojo. Produced by Miramax with a budget of $30 million, the film is already a resounding financial success. Worldwide, it accumulates $105.5 million in 53 markets.
The return of the Wayans brothers, Marlon, Shawn and Keenen Ivory, along with Anna Faris and Regina Hall has been key to connecting with the adult audience that grew up with the saga.
The film mercilessly satirizes the current ecosystem of sequels, reboots and spin-offs that dominates Hollywood, and parodies recent hits such as “Get Out”, “M3GAN” and “Scream”.
In third place remains “Backrooms”, which with $25.9 million in its second weekend has already accumulated $212.6 million worldwide, becoming A24's highest-grossing film.
For its part, “Obsession” continues to surprise: in its fourth weekend it barely fell 7% and totaled $152.1 million in North America, on its way to surpassing $200 million globally. This low-budget thriller about the dangers of romantic obsession increased its sales during its second and third weekends, an unusual performance that speaks to the power of word of mouth among young audiences.
The failure of “Masters of the Universe”
In contrast, Amazon MGM's epic adventure based on He-Man debuted in second place with just $29.3 million in North America and $54 million globally, a very poor figure for a production that cost close to $200 million. The audience was mostly male (66%) and almost 40% were over 45 years old, which shows that the film failed to attract new generations, according to Variety.