Box Office: ‘Scary Movie 6’ Eyes Franchise-Record $60M Opening After $7.7M Thursday; ‘Obsession’ Holds Strong ($4.7M) as ‘Masters of the Universe’ Stumbles ($4M)

Seems “Scary Movie 6” will be exceeding expectations this weekend as it tallied $7.7M in Thursday previews, and a $60M opening is now a real possibility. The film only cost $30M.

That $60M weekend tally would be a franchise record, besting the previous high set by 2003’s “Scary Movie 3” ($48M). These are impressive numbers for the Wayans brothers and Paramount, and “Scary Movie 6” will quite easily become the most successful comedy release in over 15 years and the second-biggest opening for the genre ever, behind only “The Hangover Part II,” which opened to $85M in 2011.

Last week’s champ, A24’s “Backrooms,” hit $5.1M on Thursday and is looking at a $35M second frame, which would represent a 57% drop from its $81M opening weekend.

Meanwhile, Amazon MGM Studios’ $200M “Masters of the Universe” earned around $4M on Thursday, including the $1.2M it had already made from early shows. So that’s really only $2.8M from Thursday proper for the Travis Knight-directed take on the 1980s toy line and cartoon series. A $25M–$30M weekend is expected. Not great, though audience response has been positive.

“Obsession” ended its third week with a $4.7M Thursday, a mere 1% week-over-week decline. The film actually added 100 screens this weekend, so a third consecutive increase isn’t out of the realm of possibility. For now, it’s looking at a $23M–$24M weekend, which would be a slight decrease. With so much competition in the marketplace this weekend, this is still a very impressive hold.

Finally, “The Amazing Digital Circus,” based on the hit indie animated web series created by Gooseworx and produced by Glitch Productions, grossed $7.8M in its first full day at the box office. However, the film will be highly front-loaded and is looking at a $20M weekend.

This is shaping up to be a very interesting weekend for box-office watchers. Can “Scary Movie 6” hit $60M? Will “Obsession” increase again? How steep will the drop be for “Backrooms”? Is “Masters of the Universe” going to underperform? We’ll have a better idea by Saturday.

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August 19, 2019

3-Hour ‘Midsommar' Director's Cut Screened in NYC

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Jemima Kirke and Alexi Wasser to Star in Woody Allen's Next Film

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Fritz Lang’s ‘M’ Tops the Best Films of the 1930s, According to 100+ Critics

We’ve gone through the decades. The ‘40s ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, ‘2000s, and ‘2010s. — all revisited, argued over. Now, here are the results for the best films of the 1930s.

Critics Poll: ‘Citizen Kane' Named Best Film of the 1940s

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Critics Poll: ‘Vertigo’ Named Best Film of the 1950s, Over 120 Participants

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