Masters of the Universe opened in theaters in 2026 and by most financial measures came up short. The film earned $113.8 million worldwide against a production budget of $170 million. But on Prime Video, the 140-minute fantasy action film is now sitting at the top of the streaming charts.
According to Collider, the box office result does not reflect what the film actually is. The review describes it as a movie that rides a fine line between sincere tribute to the franchise and self-aware humor about its own absurdity, pointing to a sequence in which Adam explains the origins of names like Ram-Man, Mekaneck and Moss Man as a highlight.
Nicholas Galitzine plays Adam, the Eternian prince who becomes He-Man on Earth. Jared Leto voices Skeletor, rendered as a CGI creation. The film gives Galitzine the challenge of playing a character from another world who must navigate ours, moving from wide-eyed wonder at his own powers to an understanding of the responsibility they carry. Collider's assessment is that he delivers on both.
Leto's voice work is described as deceptively simple, balancing genuine menace with a tone calibrated not to frighten younger viewers. Collider singles out scenes where Skeletor enters He-Man's mind as worth watching on their own.
The film deliberately avoids the self-serious quality that Collider says has been a problem for other franchise properties. Its energy goes toward being entertaining rather than weighty, embracing the source material's inherent ridiculousness rather than working around it.
It is the second time a Masters of the Universe film has underperformed at the box office. The 1987 version starring Dolph Lundgren earned $17.3 million against a $22 million budget. Streaming has now given the franchise a second chance to find its audience, and on Prime Video, that audience appears to be showing up.
Also trending this weekend on Netflix are Kevin Hart's new comedy 72 Hours, currently the most-watched movie on the platform in the United States, and A Quiet Place: Day One, the 2024 prequel to John Krasinski's sci-fi horror franchise. 72 Hours, which debuted July 24, follows Hart as a 40-year-old executive who accidentally joins a bachelor party group chat and ends up on a three-day trip with a group of men in their twenties. A Quiet Place: Day One stars Lupita Nyong'o and Joseph Quinn and rewinds the alien invasion timeline to its first day.
