The box office knives are already out for the 2026 movie calendar release, Masters of the Universe, which is probably inevitable when a big, expensive-looking He-Man movie heads into theaters with soft tracking attached. A lot of the early review chatter has framed Amazon MGM’s fantasy reboot as a likely flop before it even has a chance to lift the sword. I get the instinct, but I also think that framing misses much of what makes this release interesting and why it should be seen as less of a disaster than The Mandalorian and Grogu’s second week in theaters.
According to Boxoffice Pro’s Long Range Forecast, Masters of the Universe is tracking for a $30 million to $40 million domestic opening when it opens on June 5. That would be a muted start for a major franchise play, especially one built around a legacy toy brand with Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man, Jared Leto as Skeletor and Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn. Still, a soft opening for an Amazon MGM movie does not mean the same thing as a brutal second-week drop for The Mandalorian and Grogu.
