No Miracle Happened: "Masters of the Universe" Reboot Kicks Off Global Box Office with $54 Million

The box office performance of "Masters of the Universe" in its opening weekend confirmed analysts' worst fears.

The reboot of "Masters of the Universe" failed to live up to its summer blockbuster status, opening in the American box office with a modest $29.3 million in its first weekend. The weak result was not a surprise for the industry: analysts in May had already predicted around $25 million for Travis Knight's film at its opening and noted the weak interest of the mass audience in He-Man's return.

Including international earnings of $25 million, the film's worldwide gross for the first weekend totaled $54.3 million. For a project with a budget of $200 million and Mattel's ambitions to build a new cinematic universe, this is a very troubling start.

One of the reasons for the weak start, experts say, is competition from low-budget hits from YouTube creators. Kane Parsons' feature film "The Backrooms" and Curry Barker's psychological thriller "Obsession" have drawn significant audience interest and word-of-mouth in recent weeks. An additional blow was the successful launch of the parody horror film "Scary Movie 6," which grossed $56 million in the US and a total of $107 million worldwide.

Surprisingly, MGM management is trying to put a brave face on a bad situation. Kevin Wilson, head of the studio's domestic theatrical distribution, called the result a "solid start" and emphasized that the company is banking on long-term distribution, and the enthusiastic fan reaction should help the film maintain its momentum. In reality, experts agree that only a digital release on the Prime Video streaming service can save the project from huge losses now.