“Scary Movie” will contend with another scary movie, A24’s breakout horror hit “Backrooms,” for No. 1 at the domestic box office.

Paramount and Miramax’s R-rated “Scary Movie” is aiming for $45 million to $50 million from 3,400 North American theaters in its opening weekend. Paramount is offering a projection of $40 million. Should ticket sales reach the higher end of expectations, “Scary Movie” will set a franchise record, a benchmark that currently belongs to 2006’s “Scary Movie 4” with $49.7 million (not adjusted for inflation).

Exhibitors are bullish on the newest installment in the 25-year-old parody series, especially since horror and nostalgia have been fueling the box office. There’s so much new material to spoof — “Get Out,” “Weapons,” “M3GAN,” “Longlegs,” “Scream” and even “Backrooms” are among the targets this time around — since the last “Scary Movie” was released in 2013. Yet there’s a ton of unexpected competition at multiplexes given the smash success of “Backrooms” and “Obsession,” two horror films that struck a chord with Gen Z. Last weekend, Kane Parson’s “Backrooms” obliterated expectations with $81 million domestically and is poised to earn as much as $48 million to $50 million in its sophomore outing. Meanwhile Curry Barker’s “Obsession” has enjoyed unprecedented week-to-week increases in ticket sales, picking up $105 million in North America and $150 million globally after three weekends of release. Since all three films have very different tones, they should be able to coexist at the box office.

“Scary Movie” brings back the Wayans brothers —  Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Keenen Ivory Wayans and Craig Wayans wrote the script with Rick Alvarez, while Marlon and Shawn co-star as Shorty and Ray — for the first time since 2001’s “Scary Movie 2.” They were forced out of the franchise they created by the Weinsteins, who owned Miramax at the time. There’s also excitement because Anna Faris and Regina Hall, whose characters haven’t returned since 2006’s “Scary Movie 4,” are back as Cindy Campbell and Brenda Meeks. Miramax financed “Scary Movie” for $30 million.

This weekend’s other major release is Amazon MGM’s “Masters of the Universe,” a sword-and-planet adventure based on the Mattel toy known as He-Man. The PG-13 movie is targeting a $30 million to $35 million start from 3,500 locations. Word-of-mouth will be key to the box office longevity, and thus the financial success of “Masters of the Universe,” which carries a hefty $200 million budget. The movie has the challenge of galvanizing the moviegoing masses for a toy that was popular in the ’80s. However, “Masters of the Universe” could benefit from the fact that family crowds haven’t been engaging all that much with Disney’s “Star Wars” spinoff “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” which opened over Memorial Day weekend and suffered a catastrophic 70% drop in its second frame.

“Masters of the Universe” has been in the works since 2007 — longer than the seeming eternity that Prince Adam was separated from his home planet of Eternia. The property cycled through several studios, including Netflix, Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures, as well as countless writers, directors and stars, such as Jon M. Chu, McG, and Noah Centineo. When Amazon MGM acquired the rights in 2024, they hired Travis Knight (“Bumblebee”) to direct and Nicholas Galitzine to portray the titular blond-haired god. Idris Elba, Camila Mendes, Alison Brie and Jared Leto round out the cast as Man-at-Arms, Teela, Evil-Lyn and Skeletor. “Masters of the Universe” follows Adam as he embrace his true identity as the almighty He-Man after power in Eternia is brutally ceded to the evil Skeletor.

Amazon MGM is hoping to extend a commercial streak after March’s astronaut epic “Project Hail Mary” earned a sterling $678 million worldwide to date. Meanwhile “Masters of the Universe” is the second theatrical film from Mattel after “Barbie,” a staggering success with $1.44 billion worldwide. Post-“Barbie,” Mattel has raided its toy box to commission movies based on Polly Pocket, American Girl, Barney, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots and the card game Uno.