‘Scary Movie’ leads global box office with over $100m, ‘Masters Of The Universe’ in second; ‘Backrooms’, ‘Obsession’ both pass $200m

Worldwide box office: June 5-7

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

Scary times

Paramount’s Scary Movie opened top of this weekend’s global box office with $105.5m, a record opening for the horror parody franchise.

Scary Movie took $50.5m in 53 international markets and $55m domestically, according to Comscore figures. It is 75% above the start of Scary Movie 3, the previous franchise record holder; and its global opening has pushed the total Scary Movie franchise box office beyond the $1bn mark.

It topped the chart in most major markets, including Mexico, where it scored the biggest-ever opening for a Paramount comedy with $6.7m including previews. It also came in number one in UK-Ireland, Germany ($5.5m), Brazil ($5.1m), France ($3.2m), Australia ($2.7m), Italy ($2.2m), Peru ($2.1m), Argentina ($1.8m), Colombia ($1.8m), Panama ($1.6m), and Poland ($1m) among others. Brazil and Colombia recorded the biggest-ever openings for a Paramount film, with the title taking a huge $21.5m in Latin America alone and $26m in Europe.

This weekend represented 95% of the film’s international rollout, with New Zealand, Norway and the Philippines to come from next week.

Directed by Michael Tiddes, Scary Movie is the sixth film in the franchise, which began in 2000. It sees two friends caught up in mayhem involving killers, monsters and supernatural creatures, after a teenage girl is attacked while watching a Scary Movie spoof.

Masters in second

Amazon MGM Studios’ Masters Of The Universe started in second place on the global chart with a moderate $54.3m worldwide.

This was composed of $25m from international markets, and $29.3m domestically, according to Comscore figures.

Brazil led the way with $4.5m, followed by UK-Ireland, Mexico with $2.8m, Germany with $1.9m, Australia with $1.5m and China with $1.3m.

The film took $4.2m across the Imax network, including $2.6m in North America and $1.6m internationally, of which $250,000 came from China.

Based on Mattel’s toy franchise, Masters Of The Universe is a fantasy story following Prince Adam, who returns to his home planet of Eternia to take his destiny as He-Man and save his home from the evil forces of Skeletor. Nicholas Galitzine leads the cast, alongside Camila Mendes, Idris Elba, Jared Leto and Alison Brie.

The film has been through various iterations since it was first announced in 2009, with Sony and Netflix both holding the rights at different stages before Amazon MGM Studios took over in 2024. It is the second live-action adaptation of the Masters franchise, after a 1987 version directed by Gary Goddard and starring Dolph Lundgren.

Backrooms, Obsession continue great runs

Backrooms and Obsession, the two low-budget horror favourites of recent weeks, have held well across international markets, with both titles crossing the $200m mark.

Backrooms expanded to 52 markets and added $50.1m worldwide. This was down 58% on its enormous opening weekend last time out. However, its international footprint was down only 32%, with $24.2m from international markets, according to Comscore figures.

The debut feature of 20-year-old filmmaker Kane Parsons is up to $212.7m, with $77.6m internationally and $135.1m in North America.

Curry Barker’s Obsession saw an increase across its latest session, up 8% to $43.3m worldwide, for a $224.8m total – a stunning figure for a film made for a reported $750,000.

This included a 28% increase in international markets, up to $17.7m in its latest session, for a $72.7m international cume to date.

The film is now playing in 57 markets, of which 45 are through Universal Pictures International. It is at $56.6m in those markets, above Sinners, The Black Phone, Longlegs and The Substance at the same stage.

UK-Ireland was the leading market this weekend, followed by India ($2.1m) and Mexico ($1.3m), while it also held flat in Saudi Arabia with $900,000, despite the end of the Eid holidays.

Top result for Circus

With Backrooms and Obsession both having YouTube heritage, a third such title has broken into the global top 10, The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act.

Made by Australia’s Glitch Productions, the cinema release consists of the last two episodes of the show, which follows animated avatars of humans trapped inside the show’s universe.

Playing in 22 markets, the release brought in $26.5m, with an even split of $13.8m internationally and $12.7m from North America.

It is up to $35.5m worldwide, $14.4m of which comes from international with $21.1m from North America.

Studio holdovers

Disney’s Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Grogu is nearing the $300m mark worldwide, after a $26m third session – another drop of over 50%, although less than its second weekend fall of 69%.

It put on $16m in international markets for $137.8m, and is up to $293.6m around the world. Germany posted the best international hold, dropping just 2%, while France (-24%) and Japan (-25%) also recorded decent results.

Michael has become Lionsgate’s highest-grossing film of all time, adding $23.1m worldwide on its latest session to hit $888.1m total according to Comscore. That took it beyond The Twilight Sage: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 ($868.5m) and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($865m) to top the Lionsgate chart. Universal releases the film in international markets (except Japan), where it added $15.4m to hit $533.8m total.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 is nearing $450m internationally for Disney after a $9m session. It added $11.8m worldwide for a $663.6m global total.

• UK-Ireland box office up 11% year-on-year thanks to strong May