Masters of the Universe Bombed at the Box Office With Just $90M — So Why Is a Sequel Already in the Works?

Masters of the Universe Just Had One of the Worst Box Office Runs of 2026 — But Amazon MGM Isn't Giving Up

If you thought a $200 million budget and a star-studded cast including Nicholas Galitzine, Idris Elba, and Jared Leto would guarantee box office success, Masters of the Universe is here to prove you very, very wrong. Amazon MGM Studios' big swing at reviving the He-Man franchise has stumbled hard — grossing only about $90 million worldwide against a production budget that ballooned to $200 million before marketing costs even kicked in. But here's the twist: a sequel might already be on the table. How does that even work?

The Numbers Tell a Painful Story

Directed by Travis Knight — the mind behind Bumblebee — Masters of the Universe opened on June 5, 2026, pulling in just $29.4 million domestically from 3,667 theaters. A soft debut for a tentpole film of this scale. Things got worse fast. By its second weekend, the film suffered a catastrophic 71 percent drop, earning only $8.66 million in North America and bringing its domestic total to roughly $46.7 million.

To put this in perspective, other 2026 releases are absolutely crushing it. Toy Story 5 just hit $312 million globally in its opening weekend alone. Obsession, a micro-budget horror thriller from Focus Features with a tiny $750,000 production cost, has already crossed $188 million worldwide. Even Michael, the Michael Jackson biopic from Universal, shattered the music biopic box office record previously held by Bohemian Rhapsody by surpassing $900 million. Compared to those, Masters of the Universe looks like it got hit by Skeletor's own Havoc Staff.

The supporting cast — Camila Mendes as Teela, Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn, Morena Baccarin as The Sorceress, James Purefoy as King Randor, and Charlotte Riley as Queen Marlena — delivered solid performances, and critics gave the film respectable reviews. But critical acclaim doesn't pay the bills when your opening weekend gets overshadowed by indie horror flicks.

Why a Sequel Could Still Happen — Blame Amazon's Strategy

So how does a film this much in the red still get a green light for a sequel? The answer lies in Amazon MGM Studios' unconventional playbook. Unlike traditional studios that live and die by theatrical performance, Amazon has a massive streaming advantage through Prime Video.

Industry analysts at Forbes predict that Masters of the Universe will follow a path similar to Project Hail Mary, which also underperformed theatrically before generating massive revenue through Premium Video on Demand rentals and Prime Video streaming. By charging premium prices for early digital access, Amazon can squeeze out significant additional revenue that traditional box office reporting simply doesn't capture.

There's also the broader Mattel Studios strategy at play. After the unprecedented success of Barbie, which crossed $1.4 billion globally, Mattel has been aggressively building out its entertainment division with plans to adapt its entire toy catalog. Masters of the Universe may be a theatrical disappointment, but it establishes the world, characters, and visual language for a potential cinematic universe that includes a rumored She-Ra spinoff — already teased by the film's cast.

On top of that, the film recently secured a late IMAX re-release thanks to positive audience word-of-mouth, suggesting there's still untapped demand from fans who missed it during its initial theatrical run.

The Bottom Line

Masters of the Universe will almost certainly go down as one of 2026's biggest box office bombs. But in the streaming era, theatrical numbers don't tell the whole story. With PVOD revenue, Prime Video subscriptions, and Mattel's franchise ambitions all factored in, Amazon MGM may still see enough value to keep the He-Man saga alive. Whether that's a win or a cautionary tale for Hollywood's $200 million blockbuster habit remains to be seen.