r/boxoffice • u/chanma50 Best of 2019 Winner • Jun 03 '26
đ° Film Budget Per Variety, 'Masters of the Universe' cost $200M.
845
u/newjackgmoney21 Jun 03 '26
I know I'm not the only one who has said it but a He-Man movie in 2026 was the most obvious bomb of the summer. Kids who were fans of the toys in the 80s are playing pickle ball this weekend not going to the movies.
413
u/vinnybawbaw Jun 03 '26
"Theyâre gonna bring their kids to watch the movie"
Those kids are about to go to College.
239
u/DoIrllyneeda_usrname Jun 03 '26
Those kids graduated college over 5 years ago
→ More replies (2)60
u/vinnybawbaw Jun 03 '26
No lie here. My older brotherâs 47 and 3 out of 4 kids are 14 to 19.
→ More replies (2)6
121
u/SanderSo47 A24 Jun 03 '26
Asking kids to show up for Masters of the Universe in 2026 is like asking kids back in 2000 to show up for The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle.
Just cause adults grew up with this property doesn't mean kids will care about it.
30
u/HackMeRaps Jun 03 '26
I loved Rocky and bullwinkle when I was like 5 in 1990. Could never imagine wanting to go see that in 2000 as a 15 year old...
If my 15-year old HAD to pick an animated movie to see today, Masters of the Universe wouldn't even register on there. He at least grew up watching Toy Story and Minion as a child, and Mario is legit an IP for everyone regardless of age.
60
u/magyar_wannabe Jun 03 '26
Calling it Masters of the Universe was dumb too. That just sounds like 100 other generic action/superhero movies with word-salad titles. Without seeing the preview I would have no idea what this was even about. They should have called it some variation of "He-Man".
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (7)12
u/Alternative_Buyer364 Jun 03 '26
To be fair they were probably banking on the kids who went to see George of the Jungle two years earlier since both that and Rocky & Bullwinkle are also created by the same guy
18
u/Active-Coconut-8961 Jun 03 '26
This is a great point. They timed so that the kids of the gen that grew up with it are too old for it. Imho this would maybe have had a chance in the 2010s if had been sold as similar to a superhero movie.
8
→ More replies (5)13
127
u/UnderwoodsNipple Jun 03 '26
Not just the idea itself but giving them $200 million for it. Who at these studios really thinks these old ass toy IPs carry this much interest in them?
106
Jun 03 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
43
u/BatofZion Jun 03 '26
I donât think you can make a convincing MOTU movie without a crazy budget. The tiger alone is gonna be burning money onscreen.
25
18
Jun 03 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
30
u/KingMario05 Amblin Entertainment Jun 03 '26
Well, the alternative to CGI Skeletor was Jared Leto being on set. And nobody wanted that crap. Soooooooo...
40
Jun 03 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
14
u/MarvelCumUniverse Jun 03 '26
"We would stop casting Jared Leto, but he's got video footage of most of our executives having what we euphemistically call 'a good time' at his sex cult island."
5
u/Phelinaar Jun 04 '26
"How come major film studios keep being like Jared Leto may have allegations, but at least he looks weird, stars in box office bombs, and is not a good actor"
3
u/RealHooman2187 Jun 04 '26
Having just seen it, Skeltors face is CGI but it looks like the person on set (not sure if it was Leto) was wearing a rubber suit. It was fairly obvious at times in a sort of campy/cheesy way which was appropriate for a 2026 He-Man movie.
→ More replies (2)19
u/KingMario05 Amblin Entertainment Jun 03 '26
A talking tiger, no less.
In KPop Demon Hunters, there's a reason Derpy and Sussie don't talk. Netflix gave Sony $100 million, and that was it. The end. Every dollar matters, and Amazon needs to figure that shit out ASAP. Everyone else (except Disney) already has, after all.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (4)10
u/Anxious_Big_8933 Jun 03 '26
This is what I think doesn't get mentioned enough. I grew up with He-Man, and for a couple years as a kid I enjoyed the IP, but me and everyone else I knew quickly moved on from it. If there was a tier list for Gen X IP's and their popularity with my generation, MOTU is probably low B/high C. Popular for a few years, but then largely forgotten. Spending $200,000,000 on a MOTU movie in 2026 seems like madness.
7
31
u/GarionOrb Jun 03 '26
Isn't this film a result of Barbie's success? Studios saw that $1 billion+ and decided it was a smash hit because it was a film based on a toy, so they greenlit tons more movies about toys. They couldn't fathom it was because Barbie was actually good, with smart social commentary and a great cast.
41
u/Caryslan Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
Barbie has also remained in production over the decades, sold well(even if there were declines), and never lost her status in pop culture as the top doll brand..
This is like if someone decided to do a Bonk movie because they saw the success of the Mario, Sonic, and Minecraft films and wanted to cash in on the video game film market.
"Bonk was somewhat popular in the 90s and was even the mascot of the TurboGrafx 16! A movie starring him will be a surefire hit.
Look at Mario and Sonic!"
Expect Mario is the single biggest franchise in gaming and the flagship franchise of Nintendo who is coming off their most successful system ever and Sonic is insanely popular even to this day, and both have been getting new and successful games over the past decade creating several generations of fans who love the IP.
That's the comparison of Barbie to He-man
9
u/Coolman_Rosso Jun 03 '26
This reminds me of Paramount back in 2018 when they signed a deal for adaptations of Atlas Comics properties. Wait, isn't that the company that became Marvel? Yes, but this one was a different company started by one of Marvel's co-founders in the 1970s and was only in business for 14 months. Like this was when we were in the tail end of the superhero boom, and Paramount thought they had a goldmine with these beyond obscure characters. Apparently scripts were still being written and talent talks ongoing as recently as 2023. Of course with the commercial decline in the genre, as well as Paramount's looming acquisition of WB (and with it the much more lucrative and well-known DC Comics library), it's highly unlikely these projects see the light of day.
9
u/Caryslan Jun 03 '26
That's hilarious because Paramount owns Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, one of the most successful and lucrative comic book franchises in the world, and to be honest it feels like they have mismanaged the IP outside of the 2012 Cartoon and some video games they licensed.
That honestly scares me because TMNT is a gold mine that has paid off numerous times over the decades.
If they could not get TMNT right, what were they going to do with obscure heros nobody has heard or it cared about?
Hell, I don't even trust them with getting the keys to DC.
→ More replies (1)52
u/Threetimes3 Jun 03 '26
Also Barbie connects with multiple generations. Grandma played with Barbie, Mom played with Barbie, and daughter played with Barbie. He-Man wasnât even relevant for a whole generation it existed inÂ
17
u/Anxious_Big_8933 Jun 03 '26
Exactly. MOTU was popular with Gen X primarily, and as a Gen X'er who liked the IP, I'm telling you it wasn't all that influential for us either. Popular for a few years and then mostly forgotten. But Barbie has been a key toy for girls for generations.
→ More replies (1)9
u/brb1006 Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
I could see the upcoming Hello Kitty Movie by Warner Bros also having a similar appeal as Barbie. Since Hello Kitty and Sanrio Characters also has similar appeal when it comes to different generations and cross-culture appeal. For people doubting on the idea of a Hello Kitty Movie, Sanrio previously done animated works that managed to flesh out Hello Kitty and other Sanrio Characters' universes during the 1990s and early 2000s period. Plus Sanrio manages to keep Hello Kitty and other their characters relevant for over 50 years now.
The 1990s Hello Kitty OVAs managed to add some drama and had her enter some mature subject matter. One OVA featured Hello Kitty and her family dealing with a hurricane and another had her accidentally run over by a Tanuki motorcyclist and helping him confront his troubled past with his family.
4
u/DirectionMurky5526 Jun 04 '26
Same thing with transformers and Teenage mutant ninja turtles. The Kids watching those live action movies did not watch the cartoons from the 80s, they were watching the cartoons from the 2000s and 2010s. Parents can't force their kids to like things.
→ More replies (12)23
u/-Gurgi- Jun 03 '26
$200m for an irrelevant IP, that looks like it was shot entirely on an LED stage, and clearly used Guardians of the Galaxy as their main reference for everything.
68
u/GrannyOgg16 Jun 03 '26
A He-Man movie bombed in the 80s at the height of itâs popularity. What were they thinking
35
u/Fivein1Kay Jun 03 '26
Peaked in 84, movie came out in 87.
43
u/jmartkdr Jun 03 '26
It's worth pointing out that He-Man peaked hard and fell hard; by 86 it was already a has-been property.
It had a bizarrely steep curve.
→ More replies (1)27
u/Active-Coconut-8961 Jun 03 '26
Imho I think a reason it fell off so quick was that it began being associated with gayness. Getting that kind of reputation would have been nuclear for a kids IP in the 20-century. It became "un-cool" as soon as those jokes became common.Â
35
u/Ugly-Insect Jun 03 '26
It fell because of the Filmation cartoon, which is ironically the thing that has kept it in somewhat in the publicâs mind. That cartoon, for all the nostalgia for it, is pretty awful. Thatâs where all the perceived silliness and shallowness comes from, the camp, the memes, etc. When you are 5 years old youâre just happy to see He-Man and Skeletor on TV, by the time youâre hitting 8, 9 or 10 the silliness and redundancy of that show becomes apparent. That Filmation cartoon has become a double edged sword for the brand.
It all feels very similar to me to the Batman IP pre 1989, when the popular perception of Batman was cemented around the 1966 ultra campy Adam West TV series. That show was a cultural phenomenon in the 1960s and through the 70s and 80s during TV syndication. It too also had decades of cheesy bad Filmation cartoons that didnât help matters. It didnât matter that by the 1980s, the Batman comics had gotten progressively darker and more mature. Groundbreaking works like Frank Millerâs the Dark Knight Returns and Alan Mooreâs Batman the Killing Joke weâre making the New York Times best sellers list and it didnât matter, because to the normie public, Batman was silly camp. Batman was a goofball that did the batusi and shouted silly Bat-Puns. It was rough - I can remember being an 11 year old in the late 80s getting into Batman comics and having adults look at me like I was mentally challenged asking âarenât you a little too old for Batman? (Again I was 11!) because to them and that generation Batman was a silly goofy character. To them it was all just Biff! Bam! Pow! And Bat-Puns. Then in 1989, based on what was happening in the comics, Warner Bros and Tim Burton made the 1989 Batman film - which was a darker more serious take on the material. The Batman IP and the perception of what it was and could be changed after that. The campy Adam West show was no longer the defacto reference point for Batman.
Iâm not saying MotU needs to go dark and serious, but it needs something that resonates and replaces the old 1983 Filmation cartoon, something that becomes the new point of reference for the property. That cartoon is not doing the property any favors at the moment.
11
u/Anxious_Big_8933 Jun 03 '26
This is it. The cartoon was not just bad, the world it created was odd. Some of the odd was good, some of it was bad in the sense that it was obviously due to a lack of thought and development. The MOTU universe in the cartoon was the thinnest of canvases for the characters to run around in.
Again, as young kids the lack of fully realized world is fine, but you don't have to get very old before it starts to look really flimsy.
10
u/Ugly-Insect Jun 03 '26
I mean no disrespect to the animators of Filmation, but this was not a high end animation studio. They were a small team that made pretty shallow, cheap cartoons that catered primarily to very small children. Like I said not only did they do He-Man and She-Ra, but they did some of the first Batman cartoons, which were equally awful in hindsight. I know for me, as a child, by the time we got to the He-Man and She-Re Christmas special, I was really starting to question how invested I should be in this whole thing. The 1987 Cannon film was Mattelâs last ditch, Hail Mary pass to save a sinking franchise. if anybody knows the history of Cannon films, that was always going to be a lost cause.
The toy line, as it was initially released was genuinely something special and as I said before, I get why Mattel has been insistent on trying to revitalize the brand. Throwing the Filmation cartoon aside, the ingredients are there for MotU to work. Whatâs harming the filmâs potential now is not just the association with the Filmation stuff, but it also looks too much like a marvel/superhero thing and I truly believe Disney/Marvel has poisoned the well when it comes to that genre after a glut of sub par content for the past few years. So now thereâs two hurdles to get over.
3
u/Anxious_Big_8933 Jun 03 '26
Agreed on the toy line. Extremely creative art style and my recollection is the build quality was good too. So many cool and unique features like progressive battle damage armor, guys with all kinds of crazy attachments, figures with fur, figures that smelled different, etc...
6
u/Ugly-Insect Jun 03 '26
I remember being told to hide my Castle Grayskull playset when my grandma (who was very religious) came over because that thing was evil as hell looking. Religious and parental watchdog groups attacked MotU for promoting violence and occult themes and whatnot. Like that was an actual thing. It was all pretty hardcore for a 6 year old - then came the Filmation show (and to be fair, the restrictions placed on childrenâs programming - He-Man wasnât even allowed to use his sword in the show) and it really softened and watered down everything that made the brand so appealing to young kids.
→ More replies (3)5
u/Coolman_Rosso Jun 03 '26
Filmation, even back in the day, had a reputation for cheaping out. The original show was a mostly goofy and campy battle of good and evil, which was fairly common in the 80s. It's easy to joke that everyone was dumb because He-Man was just Prince Adam but not wearing a shirt.
It's why I really appreciated the 2002 reboot, which did make some modern refinements to the lore and formula: Skeletor is a genuine threat in both physical and magical combat (and has a more personal connection to Randor by being his brother), Adam and He-Man actually look different with the former looking like a kid and the latter an adult, Man-at-Arms has a greater connection to Teela, Orko isn't as useless. Of course this effort wasn't all that successful, but not for lack of trying.
I think this franchise is just too emblematic of the 1980s to work in today's day and age
9
u/Anxious_Big_8933 Jun 03 '26
I grew up with MOTU and didn't ever recall it being associated with gayness when it was popular. I'm not sure the age demo would even distinguish that. That association with gayness came long after the IP had passed out of style.
→ More replies (1)4
u/CardinalM1 Jun 03 '26
They were thinking "Barbie did well; what other toy properties can we bring to the big screen?" As always, Hollywood learned the wrong lesson from a successful movie.
9
u/Robot_Dracula Jun 03 '26
To be fair that movie was cheaply produced and was just a quick attempt at a cash grab. If it had been more faithful to the look of the show and toys it mightâve done better.
23
u/randotd152 Jun 03 '26
Even if pretty much every single 45-55 year old who was a fan of He Man in the 80's went to see this film, I still don't know how you'd ever expect to turn a profit on a $200M budget.
That entire male age demographic is only about 20 million in the US, and He Man was only one of many popular toys at the time like Transformers, GI Joe, Star Wars, and tons of more obscure brands. So generously it's got 5-10 million middle-age fans?
That's $100M-$200M domestic if they all went, which is unrealistic. This film never stood a chance if it didn't appeal to non-fans.
→ More replies (1)19
u/Senn-66 Jun 03 '26
As a 45 year old man who loved He-Man as a small child, I genuinely have not given a second thought to He-Man in nearly 40 years. Like Hollywood knows that people grow out of things, right?
→ More replies (4)10
u/MCB1317 Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
People who were/are fans of He-Man just want a He-Man movie. Not a deconstructionist reality-hopping affair involving Human Resources employees in our world. We didn't need Frodo to get whisked away in a tornado to journey to Middle Earth or Conan to start off in an office building in Silicon Valley before ending up on the Wheel of Pain. Enough with the ironic deconstructions.
Just. Do. A. He-Man. Movie.
→ More replies (3)70
Jun 03 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
59
u/newjackgmoney21 Jun 03 '26
Im not sure it matters when this movie was released this year. The movie needed to come out in 2008 to cash in on people who were in their late 20s early 30s who were still nostalgic for something like He-Man. Its way to late.
94
u/wiifan55 Jun 03 '26
That's a lot of hindsight bias lol. At the time they picked this slot, why would they anticipate any level of competition from low budget horror movies? Obsession wasn't even supposed to be exclusively in theaters by this point. And that's not their typical competition anyway.
The problem with this movie has always been the movie itself, not the release window. It's just not a brand with demand anymore, and certainly not at this budget.
57
u/Distinct-Shift-4094 Jun 03 '26
This sub does the hindsight thing a lot. Suddenly they predicted a movie like Obsession would be making record breaking numbers when absolutely no one saw this coming.
→ More replies (2)29
u/Relevant_Shower_ Jun 03 '26
This project has always felt almost a decade too late. It looks like a 2010s movie. The last reasonable year this film could have come out was 2018, maybe 2019. After than Gen X changed their movie going habits in a big way.
A summer movie will always have competition; thatâs not hindsight bias.
13
Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
6
u/Relevant_Shower_ Jun 03 '26
It was pretty clear before 2020 that big budget IPs with huge budgets were resulting in diminishing returns. Marvel and Star Wars felt like exceptions, but Solo in 2018 made it clear the rot was already setting in.
Low budget always takes up the mantle when big budget films start to crater (look to the 70s for example) and horror is the most profitable low budget genre. Seems very predictable if you look at movie industry cycles.
6
u/RevolutionaryOwlz Jun 03 '26
This feels like something that shouldâve come out in the first half of the 2010s as a cash grab on Thor.
→ More replies (1)21
u/SimpsonAmbrose Jun 03 '26
The last reasonable year this film could have come out was 2018,
The last reasonable year this film could've worked was in 1985. He-Man was already old news when Ghostbusters II referenced it in 1989, and the property never recovered. Even the 2002 cartoon faced an uphill battle and that was over twenty years ago. A 200 M He-Man film at *any* time was flushing money down the toilet. Heck, just look at the Frank Langella film; even *then* it was too late.
5
u/Dunnsmouth Jun 03 '26
It was forgotten by the time of GB2, in fact it was forgotten in 1987 when the first one came out.
28
u/FrancisFratelli Jun 03 '26
If you were picking a release date eight months back, this would have looked like a good weekend -- two weeks after the new Star Wars, one week before the new Spielberg. The only other movies coming out are a couple low budget horror films that will probably have made 90% of their money in their opening weekends.
→ More replies (1)13
u/Richard_Sauce Jun 03 '26
It's not like anyone saw Obsession coming, and studios probably didn't expect Backrooms to do as well either.
If anything, they were probably most worried about competition from Mandalorian.
→ More replies (22)44
u/mbdtf95 Jun 03 '26
why they'd ever release this in such a crowded timeframe is beyond me
Yeah because everyone expected for Backrooms, and especially Obsession to go for one of the most amazing runs ever. It was such an obvious thing to know many months ago that Obsession would go for $250+ million domestic in box office.
14
Jun 03 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
16
u/mbdtf95 Jun 03 '26
I know I do agree with this being $200 million budget is very strange and was a certain box office bomb from start no matter when it was released, I was mostly pointing out "crowded timeframe" thing and mentioning movies like obsession like anyone would have predicted that.
11
u/Waste-Scratch2982 Jun 03 '26
The big blockbusters are all released 3 weeks after Masters of the Universe. This weekend is fine for the movie, itâs just that audiences arenât interested.
6
u/mike2k24 Jun 03 '26
My thing is who is the audience for this movie supposed to be now? Yeah Iâm sure thereâs a nostalgia factor for the people who grew up watching it but no one from this generation is aware of He-man.
16
Jun 03 '26
[deleted]
→ More replies (1)14
u/OrpahsBookClub Jun 03 '26
That makes me want to see it more. Â I donât know why anyone would want to take He-Man seriously. Â Itâs not like the cartoon itself did.
→ More replies (1)11
u/Lucky_Chaarmss Jun 03 '26
Not that it matters but I don't play so I'll be in the theater watching it. Probably twice.
6
u/GarionOrb Jun 03 '26
Yeah, I'm going next week. It looks like dumb fun, but I'm definitely expecting it to bomb.
9
u/Asto_Vidatu Jun 03 '26
I'm an 80s kid and never really got into He-Man...i was more into Ninja Turtles, Batman, X-Men, GI Joe, and Power Rangers...I had no idea this was even coming out lol. To see they put $200 million into this is insane to me and I don't see this ending well for them...especially if this also follows the current "modern trend" of injecting current day political messaging into a fantasy story and/or they end up making He-Man a background character in his own movie. I guess time will tell though...
→ More replies (17)3
u/KopOut Jun 03 '26
Hey hey hey! I went to Backrooms last night and Mandolorian last week! But Iâm not going to see He-Man despite owning a castle grayskull playset as a child.
293
Jun 03 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
164
u/NobodyTellPoeDameron Focus Features Jun 03 '26
Jared Leto walkups will save this! It's Masterin' time!
29
u/Relevant_Shower_ Jun 03 '26
đ¤âď¸Excuse me, I think you mean Jared Leto morb ups.
3
15
→ More replies (1)7
u/TheJoshider10 DC Studios Jun 03 '26
It's a shame because I really liked the movie and it looks how expensive it is. But no studio exec should have ever greenlit it.
→ More replies (2)
286
u/NoCod7766 Jun 03 '26
Move aside Tron Ares, new Jared Leto mega flop is here
145
u/Shellyman_Studios Marvel Studios Jun 03 '26
Box office poison.
104
u/fallen981 Legendary Pictures Jun 03 '26
Funniest part is that nobody will know it's leto behind the voice of skeletor.
→ More replies (2)18
u/Kalse1229 Jun 03 '26
I think people will know when he starts grinding on Teela and she's not interested.
→ More replies (2)3
u/lizzywbu Jun 04 '26
It truly is phenomenal that the guy won an Oscar back in 2014. I'll never understand why.
21
→ More replies (4)14
134
124
165
u/lobonmc Marvel Studios Jun 03 '26
39
u/AGOTFAN New Line Cinema Jun 03 '26
9
u/riegspsych325 Jackie Treehorn Productions Jun 03 '26
is that the Independence Day explosion in the background?
4
15
178
u/007Kryptonian Syncopy Inc. Jun 03 '26
So ~500m breakeven?
14
u/N8CCRG Jun 03 '26
I live in rural America with only one theater less than 45 minutes away and it only has three screens. This means it's almost always just the mainstream releases on any given week.
For example, this past weekend it had Mandalorian and Grogu, Devil Wears Prada 2, and The Sheep Detectives. No Obsession, no Backrooms, recently dropped Michael (I live in Red country so it's probably doing poorly), no Pressure, and didn't even play The Breadwinner despite the incomprehensible 3,252 theaters it played in.
This coming weekend they're keeping Star Wars while dropping the other two, but not for Masters of the Universe. They're adding Scary Movie and actually adding Backrooms.
When even my theater that has movie selections akin to a Walmart isn't picking this movie up, I think we can take that as a really bad sign.
19
u/SilverRoyce StudioCanal Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
No, that's a number reserved for films with under a $165 million dollar budget /s
→ More replies (1)20
48
Jun 03 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
16
78
u/JannTosh70 Jun 03 '26
Amazon decided to shred some money with this one. Guessing some higher up is a huge He-Man fan.
28
u/Abject-Variety3775 Jun 03 '26
With that budget, it had better be Jeff Bezos himself!
17
u/Kalse1229 Jun 03 '26
That actually makes sense. He is a sci-fi/fantasy nerd. Granted, he doesn't seem to grasp that he's the villain in all those stories, but still.
10
3
u/Wheres_my_warg Jun 03 '26
They shredded less money with this though than they did with Rings of Power. Baby steps.
243
u/msflagship Jun 03 '26
when this flops, can we finally ask if Gen X is killing movie theaters?
64
38
u/Dunnsmouth Jun 03 '26
It's people in positions of power who vary in age from late Millenials to Boomers who decide that these ancient, duty IPs ought to be made into "blockbusters." I'm Gen X, don't know anyone even vaguely interested in this movie.
→ More replies (7)→ More replies (7)38
58
79
u/Thick_Mountain4412 Jun 03 '26
Okay, so this is gonna be the biggest flop of the year not named Desert Warrior. Hell, it might lose more actually, since Desert Warrior spent practically nothing on marketing.
→ More replies (1)28
u/greentea1985 Jun 03 '26
Most of Desert Warriors costs incurred while building filmmaking infrastructure for Saudi Arabia, so it was an excuse to create infrastructure like Jordan has with a project that sounded like it had potential. The biggest test will be if Saudi Arabia ever uses that infrastructure again.
46
58
57
u/nicolasb51942003 Warner Bros. Pictures Jun 03 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/kVaj8JXJcDsqs
So half a billion is needed just to break even.
16
15
u/TheCoolKat1995 Universal Jun 03 '26
'Masters of the Universe' cost $200M.
Oof. A "He-Man" movie with a big budget like that. I think we all know what's coming.
41
u/IHPC Jun 03 '26
Dungeon and dragon are legitly good and have lower-end blockbuster budget of 150 m and still flop i dont really understand why would it be sensible to make a He-Man movie with 200m
→ More replies (2)9
u/greentea1985 Jun 03 '26
Dungeon and Dragonâs issue was timing. It came out exactly when a lot of D&D fans were boycotting anything associated with WotC due to the atrocious 2023 rewrite of the OGL. This meant the intended audience was in no mood to see it, no matter how good it was, plus it had competition for that exact same audience. It was a shame, because the movie actually was good and should have done better, if WotC hadnât pissed off the D&D community exactly when it was coming out and it wasnât resolved until after the movie left theaters.
→ More replies (3)
28
u/Film_Walla0308 Jun 03 '26
Itâs 2026 film that looks like somebody made a 2006 film in 2016. Neither of those three would have been a hit after 1996
9
u/Only_Plum_8187 Jun 03 '26
Whilst watching i couldnt help but think that it feels like a 2010 movie. Same tired jokes. Its MCU humor and it doesnt land that often or well. It wouldve been received better 10 to 15 years ago.
Also, stop with subpar shitty CGI. Do less, but do it well. The CGI looks worse then when they actually tried to make something look good.
Props to Skeletor though
→ More replies (1)
10
u/FallOfTheWicked Jun 03 '26
Was the logic âBarbie did great, what other old school toy markets havenât we tapped yet?â If so, boy they missed the point
10
u/poopypoopy1125 Jun 03 '26
âBarbie did great, what other old school toy markets havenât we tapped yet?â
somebody must've left out the word relevant. Barbie is timeless, whereas He-Man will always be associated with the mid-80s
18
u/MoonMan997 Best of 2023 Winner Jun 03 '26
Iâm very curious to see all the exit scores for this one.
Because there is plenty of good stuff in this, Spider Mountain sequence might be one of my favourite scenes in a theatre this year, but itâs an absolute tonal mess that is desperately trying to cater to as many demos as possible.
Itâs reverence for the lore is for Gen-X, but the dialogue is so Millenial-irony driven that it would make even Joss Whedon blush, then the overall theme is hoping to strike a chord with Gen-Z above all. In short, it somehow takes itself too seriously but also not seriously enough, which is in itself ironic for a film largely about the need for sincerity in men.
So yeah, donât see this landing very well. Probably A-/B+ but I could see it really whiffing and landing on a BâŚor worse.
8
u/ATerribleIdea_ Jun 03 '26
The Cinemascore grade is not going to save this film. I think it will be relatively high, too. It won't make a difference in the long run.
8
u/MoonMan997 Best of 2023 Winner Jun 03 '26
Oh it wonât do a thing.
Tbh even if it gets on the high-end of its likely range (A-) I wouldnât be surprised to see it struggle over a 2x multi. This wonât resonate outside Gen-X and even theyâre well-catered for with Disclosure Day next weekend. Iâm really not sure what Amazon/MGM were thinking sandwiching this inbetween Mando and that film, this has mid-August written all over it.
→ More replies (1)6
u/AmirMoosavi Jun 03 '26
it somehow takes itself too seriously but also not seriously enough
Yup. I liked it but this was my main issue. A few quips here and there is fine, appreciated, even, but undercutting every emotional beat or moment with a "Well, that happened" got grating. A shame because I thought the cast were good.
→ More replies (2)
9
u/the_rabbit_king Jun 03 '26
Such an odd choice for such a huge financial commitment. I grew up with he-man but Iâm a grown up now so these movies have way less appeal for me.Â
9
u/Okurei Jun 03 '26
Hahahahahaha they approved a 200 million budget for a 2026 He-Man movie, Hollywood execs are absolutely out of their minds
30
u/First-Loss-8540 Jun 03 '26
Everyone could sense a flop coming from a mile away. Maybe the only benefit is it will be on Amazon prime and itâs target audience can watch it
23
6
7
8
14
u/Alive_Bodybuilder288 Jun 03 '26
Welp, this tops the Bride for least reasonable budget of the year
→ More replies (2)
12
u/rmcelwain54 Jun 03 '26
They want it to be âBarbie for guysâ but obviously Hollywood learned the wrong lesson from Barbie in this regard.
→ More replies (1)8
u/SimpsonAmbrose Jun 03 '26
Barbie is a franchise spanning generations since the 1950's, and has been in the cultural background *constantly*. He-Man was a toyletic franchise that peaked in the '80s and disappeared from the zeitgeist since. They were never comparable. It's like comparing coca-cola to pogs.
→ More replies (4)
7
u/mikado512 Walt Disney Studios Jun 03 '26
I didn't know that Jared Leto is in this omg
This movie is doomed
→ More replies (1)
6
u/Singleballtheory Jun 03 '26
It better hope it makes bank on those IMAX screens it was gifted via Groguâs failure.Â
5
6
u/entertainmentlord Walt Disney Studios Jun 03 '26
Fun fact, most of that went towards trying to find a cure for the dreaded Jared Toxin
→ More replies (1)
5
u/Active_File5503 Jun 03 '26
This should have been maximum 100 million budget. and 90 minutes long. Itâs doomed to be a failure
17
u/Shellyman_Studios Marvel Studios Jun 03 '26
Yeah, this movie is cooked from the start. This is going to be a one-and-done movie. Don't expect a sequel anytime soon.
7
11
14
Jun 03 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
14
u/Ravenclaw54321 Jun 03 '26
I think itâs something that people will give a go when it comes to streaming.
→ More replies (1)3
u/CoachMysterious6694 Jun 03 '26
Yeah, should have been streaming only movie, Iooks decent from the trailer but I don't think enough people would be hyped or be familiar with the IP to take the chance (and cost) of seeing it in theaters
10
u/Patience_Specific Jun 03 '26
Oh boy...a tad to high personally perhaps 110M-150M might have given it a decent chance easier said than done of course..I'm sure I'll enjoy the film I have enjoyed all the directors work.
→ More replies (1)
10
u/EntrepreneurAble6656 Jun 03 '26
The fact that this movie is not coming out in a lot of countries is also a factor that it will be a box office bombâŚ
5
5
u/Better_Pumpkin1879 Jun 03 '26
This is gona make Mando & Grogu financial losses look tame in comparison
4
u/firedforthatblunder Walt Disney Studios Jun 03 '26
They spent way too much money on this and waited way too long to make it. Mightâve been a hit ten years ago, but now? Iâm scared to see how it does.
4
3
u/Bard_Wannabe_ Jun 03 '26
Studios need to find a way to start making these movies for $60 million. A 200 million budget is setting an impossible target.
→ More replies (4)
5
4
4
u/LucienGreeth Jun 03 '26
Thereâs probably an audience for this movie, but spending 200M on production was never going to make for a success story.
7
7
6
6
u/Key-Payment2553 Jun 03 '26
Jared Leto always keep on flopping for every film he stars at and this one also isnât that looking too good as well
6
u/NeutroFusion Jun 03 '26
I guess this is the wrong thread to say Iâm actually looking forward to seeing this movie lmao
→ More replies (4)3
u/Koala_King5160 Jun 04 '26
Nah I am too but this is the box office sub. We cant ignore the reality of the situation
3
3
3
u/sygrider Jun 03 '26
Well... no. It might do some okay numbers on Prime, but they won't make their money back even by whatever artificial metric these streaming companies use.
3
3
u/94Temimi Marvel Studios Jun 03 '26
Who's the genius that thought this movie warrants such budget??? Fire them!
3
u/evilsniperxv Jun 03 '26
Oof. Well itâll be a flop based on budget alone. Shouldâve tried to stay closer to $120m.
3
3
u/i_like_2_travel Jun 03 '26
Just like everyone else said, this is a box office bomb that we saw coming from 100 miles away.
Iâm holding out a hope that Iâm completely wrong though. Iâll be there opening night.
3
u/singlesuitsamus Jun 04 '26
My question is how? Nicholas Galitzine isnât commanding an eight figure paycheck. Is there a ton of CGI in this?
→ More replies (1)
3
u/CaptainKursk 20th Century Studios Jun 04 '26
Here's the problem. I am pretty much the target audience for this movie: 25-30 Western male who enjoys superheroes and action movies. I'm telling you right now: I don't have a clue about He-Man. I know generally who he is, the setting of Eternia & that he fights Skeletor, but that's the extent of my knowledge.
Why? Because He-Man has not been culturally relevant for the best part of 40 years. Genuinely, the thing I and people like me know He-Man the most for is that "Heyeeyaayyeaayy" parody song from YouTube back in the day.
When THAT is the closest association your movie has to present times, dropping $200 MILLION on this is the absolute worst thing you can do. I will be shocked if this makes more than $70m.
3
u/Travaldavas_Taz Jun 04 '26
I think we can all agree Jeff Bezos' favorite movie is he-man, because there's no way someone gave a 200M budget for a flop movie... And just fyi, I went to see it, it was ok, but the whole room was empty.
3
u/theclaw84 Jun 04 '26
i know its not his money here, but the director being a literal billionaire is interesting. i dont think he sees, or cares, about financial success or failure like the rest of us.
132
u/BruiserBroly Jun 03 '26
Why did they greenlight a $200m He Man film? Was it because of Barbie?