Masters of the Universe isn’t getting any better as the week starts.
The He-Man reboot took in just $2.1 million on its first Monday, landing in fourth place and pushing its running domestic total to a soft $31.6 million.
Per Deadline, He-Man finished the day behind Obsession ($4.2M), Scary Movie ($4.1M), and Backrooms ($3.2M). Fourth place on a quiet Monday is not where a $170 million-to-$200 million production wants to be.
It’s Tracking Below A Known Bomb
The most telling comparison is the one we have been making since the previews: Mortal Kombat II.
Masters of the Universe‘s $2.1 million Monday came in under Mortal Kombat II‘s first-Monday figure of $2.7 million, and that matters because we already know exactly where Mortal Kombat II ended up.
The video game adaptation topped out at just $79 million domestically and $128 million worldwide before getting dumped onto streaming after 30 days.
That is the trajectory He-Man is now tracking beneath.
Weekday holds are the truest signal of a movie’s legs, and if Masters of the Universe can’t match the daily pace of a film that finished under $80 million domestic, it is pointing toward an even shorter theatrical life and the same quick trip to Prime Video that Amazon has been hinting at all along.
The NBA Finals Caveat
In fairness, Monday wasn’t a normal box office day. Deadline reports that Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Knicks and Spurs sank ticket sales in the New York market by as much as 60% to 70% off Sunday’s results for some titles.
But that drag hit the entire marketplace, not just He-Man. Obsession, Scary Movie, and Backrooms all faced the same headwind and all finished ahead of Masters of the Universe. Even accounting for the Finals, He-Man still landed fourth, and still tracked under Mortal Kombat II.
We’ll have to see if things pick up on Tuesday, when movie tickets are discounted.
No Sign Of A Turnaround
At $31.6 million domestic and counting, Masters of the Universe hasn’t even crossed $32 million, against a break-even target closer to half a billion dollars.
The previews warned about it, the opening confirmed it, and the worldwide debut sealed it.
Now the weekday holds are doing the same thing all over again. He-Man is following the exact path of a movie that already bombed — just a little lower.
Read my Masters of the Universe review, where I wasn’t exactly sold on all the jokes.
