‘Masters of the Universe’ Transforms From Box Office Flop to Streaming Sensation

Occasionally, a film that faces significant challenges at the box office manages to carve out a new identity once it transitions to streaming, and this redemption story has become one of the most intriguing narratives in Hollywood this year. Few titles exemplify this shift as vividly as the recent live-action reboot of a cherished ’80s toy and cartoon series.

That film is ‘Masters of the Universe,’ directed by Travis Knight and featuring Nicholas Galitzine as Prince Adam. The reboot debuted in theaters on June 5, earning a modest $29.4 million during its opening weekend, ultimately concluding its theatrical run with a total of $113 million worldwide against a reported production budget of $170 million, falling short of typical break-even expectations.

This underwhelming box office performance sharply contrasts with the film’s success on Prime Video. ‘Masters of the Universe’ has now officially topped Nielsen’s overall streaming chart, accumulating 1.173 billion minutes of viewing time for the week of July 20-26, making it one of only two titles that week to surpass the billion-minute mark, alongside HBO Max’s ‘The Big Bang Theory.’

This impressive figure positions ‘Masters of the Universe’ ahead of a formidable competitor, considering ‘The Big Bang Theory’ drew its audience from 281 episodes rather than a single film. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the sitcom’s rerun library secured 1.122 billion minutes, meaning one movie outperformed nearly three decades of sitcom content in total viewing time.

The film’s success extended beyond the overall streaming chart. On Nielsen’s movies-specific ranking, ‘Masters of the Universe’ led the list by a significant margin, with Netflix’s ’72 Hours’ trailing far behind at 791 million minutes during its premiere week.

This surge in streaming popularity followed a broader trend that began almost immediately after the film’s debut on Prime Video on July 22. According to streaming tracker FlixPatrol, ‘Masters of the Universe’ topped Prime Video’s movie chart in over 25 countries on its first day, doubling that reach the next day before claiming the platform’s worldwide No. 1 position, displacing Amazon’s own ‘Project Hail Mary.’

While critics were generally favorable towards the film during its theatrical run, a “B” CinemaScore indicated that general audiences were not entirely convinced at the time. This disconnect between critical reception, opening weekend performance, and eventual streaming success has become a familiar trend for mid-budget franchise films navigating today’s complex theatrical landscape.

Director Travis Knight has expressed a deep passion for the universe he created, sharing with CBR prior to the film’s release that he has “so much affection for these characters and this world” and that the story is “so much bigger than the scope of this film.” He mentioned that if given the chance to continue the narrative, he knows “exactly where it’s gonna go” and who he’d cast in future roles.

Whether this newfound streaming success will persuade Amazon MGM Studios to greenlight a sequel remains uncertain, especially considering the significant losses incurred during the film’s theatrical release. However, with such strong viewing figures just weeks into its streaming journey, ‘Masters of the Universe’ has demonstrated that there is a considerable audience for this iteration of Eternia, even if they prefer to watch from the comfort of their homes.

For a franchise that has faced challenges in transitioning to live-action since Dolph Lundgren’s 1987 cult classic, this streaming resurgence offers a genuinely optimistic outlook for He-Man’s future on screen.

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