Yesterday was a particularly good reminder why the word assume is arguably the most dangerous word in the English language. If I were to believe what I was reading about this weekend’s two theatrical restoration projects–the first attempt to make the MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE a pop-culture phenomenon since the waning days of its mercurial 80s run as a massive toy line and kids’ syndication stalwart and the first time anyone with the surname Wayans was directly associated with the SCARY MOVIE franchise since they were considered the First Family of Satire, I fully expected my clickbait was going to be something to the effect of “What’s REALLY Scary? Someone Thought These Were Good Ideas”.
In the wake of the onslaught of critical trashings by professionals who had already seen them, not to mention the anointing that many of them gave to the tipping point we apparently have witnessed over the last two weekends where original IP from Gens Z and Alpha supposedly turned the movie-making industry on its keester permanently, it was practically impossible not to be a tad subdued about the prospects for either of these two heavily marketed efforts to provide positive news of their own. And yeah, I’ll own up to the fact that I was among those that quickly got on the demographic envy bandwagon that passed that judgement–if only for the reason that I persistently pivot to first and foremost–numbers don’t lie, only people do.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the slaughterhouse for these efforts from studios struggling for any good news on any front of late. The public spoke loudly and conclusively via their smartphones with both their fingers and digital wallets, and the narrative became what DEADLINE’s reliable Anthony D’Alessandro dropped yesterday afternoon:
Paramount-Miramax’s Scary Movie is backing the comedy movie back alive, bound for a franchise opening record of $52.7M per middays estimates off a first Friday and previews of $23.5M at 3,490 theaters. It’s also a sweet comeback moment for the Wayans Brothers, as the franchise architects have been away from their own IP following 2001’s Scary Movie 2 (blame the then-Dimension administration for not negotiating a proper return of the comedic fratellos).
Amazon MGM Studios’ Masters of the Universe is calling dibs on second with $31.1M after a Friday/previews take of $12.1M at 3,677 sites. Hopefully those good reviews and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes bring the families out on what’s been a near-18-year journey for this Mattel and Escape Artists take on the 1980s toys and animated TV series.
It’s important to note that the reviews that D’Alessandro is referencing for MASTERS are indeed the “popcorn” side of RT’s street, not the “tomato” site. A look at its page this morning reveals that even the more favorable ones of the 177 that contributed to a “meh” score of 66 as of this writing are lukewarm at best. Take THE WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Kyle Smith:
A two-hour-plus comedy-and-effects bonanza are more notable for their quantity than their quality, like a digital Golden Corral.
Or Peter Travers of his eponymous TRAVERS’ TAKE:
A better than it should be reboot of a 1980s relic that still falls far short of a hero’s relic.
Yet its vox populi score with more than 1000 precincts accounted for is a stellar 88 per cent.
In SCARY MOVIE’s case, the disparity is even more striking. Critics have downright reacted in disgust with a 27 per cent Tomatometer average from the 86 that have weighed in so far. Those 1000-plus, statistically significant moviegoers? +163% higher at 71 per cent and, more importantly, putting their money where their thumbs are. And as D’Alessandro expounded, they’re now acting as free activation to improve upon it even more now that the significant obstacle of last night’s thrilling NBA Finals–for which Game 1 delivered the sport’s largest audience for such a game in eight years–is over and done with:
Social media analytics corp RelishMix spotted an online reach across TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X of 653M for the sixth pic in the comedy series, 2.7x above horror franchise norms “with an aggressive push on a new TikTok page in the last three weeks, aggressive on Facebook and X, strong on YouTube and throttling well on Instagram.” “The Scary cast has been around the block and are fully social and fully activated with Marlon Wayans at 23.3M fans, Regina Hall at 6.7M, Anna Faris at 5.3M, Anthony Anderson at 4.4M, Lochlyn Munro at 814K and Cheri Oteri at 413K,” reports RelishMix. “Convo runs positive for Scary Movie 6, with nostalgia doing a full victory lap in a Ghostface mask. The crowd is hyped for Cindy, Brenda, the Wayans energy, horror cameos, and the return of dumb, rude, reference-heavy spoof comedy. Viewers keep comparing it to Scream, Terrifier, M3GAN, Smile, The Substance, Longlegs, Sinners, Weapons, and even Hot Shots, which means the trailer is successfully selling itself as a parody buffet.
And not necesssarily one on the level of Golden Corral, either.
But it was perhaps this observation from Marc Karzen’s valuable tool that I once subscribed to that left the most significant impression on me:
The best chatter treats the movie like a millennial reunion event with Gen Z accidentally invited. The mood is loud, chaotic, and weirdly affectionate. Supporting reactions include ‘The fact I can actually list all the horror movies they’re parodying is already a great sign’ and ‘Was 15 when first Scary Movie came out. First time I smoked weed before we went. Yeah, miss those times. 41 now, looking for nostalgia break with this one.’
Something that multiple generations not only like but are indeed digital-savvy enough to express. Shocking, ain’t it? I mean–when was the last time you and your post-puberty offspring found common ground on anything? Except, perhaps, if you’re both New York Knicks fans who like to eat breakfast?
Food for thought, indeed.
Until next time…