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As we mentioned in our summer curtain raiser, for the most part each weekend this summer is relying on one studio tentpole film, making the first weekend in June when one of a handful where there’s actually two studios duking it out with respective event films. We’re talking Paramount/Miramax’s reboot of the Wayans brothers’ Scary Movie and Amazon MGM Studios’ Travis Knight-directed Masters of the Universe, starring Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man.
Scary Movie has a first choice that’s close to 3x that of Masters of the Universe. Tickets don’t go on sale until Monday for the Michael Tiddes-directed satire, but the current forecast is in the range of $35M-$40M. The hope is that the old-school and new-school fans show up to this movie, which Marlon Wayans,ShawnWayans and Keenen Ivory Wayans returned to write and produce alongside longtime collaborator Rick Alvarez. This film is the spiritual sequel to the first twoScary Moviefilms. Also returning in addition to the Wayans are franchise scream queens Anna Faris and Regina Hall. First choice is very strong right now with women under 25, followed by men over/under 25.
This is the sixth Scary Movie movie in a franchise that’s 26 years old. 2003’s Scary Movie 3 posted the highest North American opening in the series at $49.7M. The five films have racked up a total of $896.3M worldwide, with three of them opening to at least $40M stateside.
Amazon MGM Studios’ big redo of Masters of the Universe from Mattel and producers Todd Black and Steve Tisch is looking at a $35M start for the reported $170M+ production. First choice is best with men over 25. The most recent big-screen adaptation of the Mattel toy was a 1987 version starring Dolph Lundgren as He-Man, Frank Langella as Skeletor and — get this — Courteney Cox starred in that movie, too. The pic didn’t do so hot, opening to $4.8M domestic from B-grade studio Cannon Films and legging out to $17.3M. And this was in the wake of the hit weekday animated TV series that ran from 1983-85. Hopefully, the Galitzine version can wave off the franchise’s dark history.