Other Mommy Box Office: Jessica Chastain Horror Passes $115 Million Worldwide, Beats $170 Million Masters of the Universe
Jessica Chastain’s horror film Other Mommy has pulled off the upset of the year at the box office — and it did it on a fraction of its rival’s budget. The Blumhouse thriller has now collected $115.3 million worldwide, passing the $113.8 million total of Masters of the Universe, the $170 million tentpole starring Jared Leto and Nicholas Galitzine, according to Koimoi and Box Office Mojo.
The numbers tell a story of two very different kinds of success. Other Mommy opened at No. 1 in North America on October 9 with $27.5 million, and has since built to $58.3 million domestically across five weekends, adding $1.55 million in its fifth weekend. Masters of the Universe, released earlier this year with a production budget of around $170 million, never recovered its costs — its $113.8 million worldwide gross leaves it deep in the red. Other Mommy, made for a small fraction of that sum, crossed the $100 million milestone days ago.
Directed by Rob Savage and based on Josh Malerman’s 2024 novel Incidents Around the House — Malerman also wrote Bird Box — the film stars Chastain in a dual role as Ursula, mother of eight-year-old Bela, and the entity that takes her shape. James Wan produced through Blumhouse and Atomic Monster. Critics were harsh — the film sits at 17 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes — but horror audiences came anyway, drawn by the trailer’s hook: “Can I go inside your heart?”
And the film is not done: Universal has confirmed Other Mommy arrives on digital platforms today, November 10, with 4K and Blu-ray following on December 29.
The lesson here is the one Hollywood keeps relearning and forgetting: budget is not box office. A modestly budgeted horror film with one Oscar-winning star and a premise you can explain in one sentence outgrossed a $170 million franchise relaunch — because horror sells an experience, not a spectacle, and its audience shows up on opening weekend. Masters of the Universe needed the whole world to turn up; Other Mommy only needed its own crowd. With the film now heading to digital, its second life may be even bigger than its first. Our report on another global box-office story, The Cat in the Hat: https://filmverse.in/the-cat-in-the-hat-box-office-20-5-million-opening-warner-bros/
Watch the official trailer below:
Other Mommy is in cinemas now and arrives on digital platforms today, November 10, 2026.
Source: Koimoi, Box Office Mojo, Universal Pictures and When To Stream. All box-office figures are trade estimates.
