👻 US Box Office Gripped by Horror Fever

The franchise’s sixth installment outpaced all analytical forecasts and set an absolute record for the series, shattering a two-decade-old benchmark held by Scary Movie 4 ($49.7 million in 2006). With a production budget of just $30 million, the project guarantees colossal profits for its creators—its worldwide gross across 53 countries has already reached $105.5 million.

Experts attribute the release’s success to a powerful nostalgia factor: for the first time since 2001, franchise creators the Wayans brothers returned to the project, alongside leading ladies Anna Faris and Regina Hall. The new entry sharply lampoons the very concept of endless Hollywood sequels, remakes, and spin-offs, skewering such hits as Get Out, Longlegs, Scream, The Backrooms, and others.

Scary Movie 6 effortlessly crushed its primary competitor, Amazon MGM’s high-budget fantasy Masters of the Universe. Based on Mattel’s iconic toy line featuring the superhero He-Man, the film debuted in second place with $29.3 million. Against a production budget of nearly $200 million, excluding marketing costs, this represents a highly disappointing start. The opening audience consisted predominantly of adult fans of the 1980s animated series, and Travis Knight’s blockbuster will now have to work exceptionally hard just to break even.

The remaining spots in the top five were also dominated by Gen Z-centric projects. Third place went to A24’s viral horror sensation The Backrooms, which drew $25.9 million in its second weekend, bringing its total lifetime gross to $212.6 million and cementing its status as the highest-grossing release in the studio’s history. Holding fourth place was the thriller Obsession, which pulled in $25.6 million in its fourth weekend with a minimal drop of just 7%. Rounding out the top five was the animated feature The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act, which brought in $19.4 million.