While “Backrooms” and “Obsession” are currently rewriting the Hollywood rule book, this Friday sees the release of what looks like another IP-driven bomb: Amazon/MGM’s “Masters of the Universe.”
Tracking for this one has been decidedly … slow. Right now, the Travis Knight-directed film is eyeing a $25M-$30M opening weekend, per tracking, while its competition this week, “Scary Movie 6” is nearing the $50M mark. With “Backrooms” eyeing $30M+ and “Obsession” potentially having a fourth-weekend increase ($27M+), “Masters of the Universe” could potentially debut in fourth place.
No need to worry—Amazon/MGM only spent $200M to produce “Masters of the Universe.”
More bad news: the review embargo has lifted, and reviews will clearly not move the needle one bit for “Masters of the Universe,” in fact it might deter more people from going to see it. So far, that’s a 51 on Metacritic and 75% on Rotten Tomatoes.
A basic but crucial question: Who is this movie actually for? Is it meant to appeal to kids, who have little to no connection to He-Man, or to adults who grew up with the toys and cartoon? It turns out most of the interest in “Masters of the Universe” seems to be coming from older male audiences who grew up with the franchise—but that demographic is not usually seen as a major driver of box-office success.
Anytime a film has this type of audience identity crisis, it’s worth flagging. A family movie needs clarity and accessibility. Right now, it’s unclear who “Masters of the Universe” is trying to satisfy. Is there even an audience large enough to care about this IP?
Amazon/MGM is coming off the huge success of “Project Hail Mary,” but they might have a box office bomb with “Masters of the Universe.” I truly hope this film does not erase the positive theatrical vibes built up there after ‘Hail Mary.’
The image shows the Maras’ Jean and Joan in the infamous cave, which plays a central role in their search for an imaginary land where true love is possible.