Comedy Makes a Comeback

The summer box office is booming—but not because of the usual suspects. After three weeks of indie horror dominance at the box office, the slasher spoof Scary Movie topped ticket sales with $55 million over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday, easily besting the far-from-mighty Masters of the Universe. A new order has lately come to movie theaters, the AP reports, which have seen Gen Z ticket buyers flock to the horror hits Obsession and Backrooms, both made by YouTubers-turned-filmmakers. Those movies have even outshone the Walt Disney Co.'s Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu. The weekend overall was up a remarkable 63% from the same weekend last year, according to Comscore.

This weekend, comedy was the underdog champ. After the genre was all but left for dead in theaters, the sixth Scary Movie notched a franchise-best $105.5 million global launch. The film even outdid its primary satirical target, the Scream franchise. Earlier this year, Scream 7 debuted with $97 million worldwide. Co-written by Marlon, Shawn, Keenan, and Craig Wayans, the sequel marks the brothers' return to the franchise after their departure over creative differences following 2001's Scary Movie 2. Reviews weren't good (26% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), and audience scores (a "B" CinemaScore) were so-so. But that didn't stop the $30 million Scary Movie from dominating its bigger-budget competition. Masters of the Universe, a sword and sorcery action adventure, failed to revive its dormant franchise. The Amazon MGM release finished a distant second.

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

1. Scary Movie, $55 million.
2. Masters of the Universe, $29.3 million.
3. Backrooms, $25.9 million.
4. Obsession, $25.6 million.
5. The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act, $12.7 million.
6. Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, $10 million.
7. Michael, $7.7 million.
8. The Breadwinner, $3.4 million.
9. Pressure, $3 million.
10. The Devil Wears Prada 2, $2.8 million.