‘Masters of the Universe’ Faces Soft $25M Debut Against Massive $200M Budget

Early box-office tracking for the upcoming Amazon/MGM-produced “Masters of the Universe” is not good, with pre-sales hinting at a $25M opening weekend. That figure is obviously weak considering the film reportedly carries a whopping production budget of $200M.

via: Dark Horizons

Early box-office projections are coming in for Amazon MGM Studios’ blockbuster “Masters of the Universe,” and the numbers don’t look great.

Box-Office Theory reports that the new live-action take on the classic “He-Man” cartoon and toy line is tracking for a domestic opening weekend of around $25 million.

That’s not good for a film rumoured to cost ‘roughly’ $170 million to produce. The outlet claims that while the property still has brand awareness, it doesn’t have the cultural presence of other properties of the time. They suggest it’s something more akin to “Tron” than “Transformers”.

The outlet adds that upfront interest will come mainly from adult men who grew up with the He-Man cartoons. Early projections like this tend to be on the low side and don’t account for positive word-of-mouth, which could have a major impact – as could last-minute marketing, which Amazon is ramping up.

Even so, it’s coming in behind “Scary Movie 6” opening the same day, which is currently projected to take in $35 million for the same weekend. How well the property could do overseas is also a big question.

Estimates also aren’t that far off from the much more cost-effective “Backrooms” movie. That film opens the week before and is currently projected to debut with $20 million, but many in the industry expect it to be considerably higher.