Prime Video's $175M Action Fantasy Flop Is Officially Soaring on Global Streaming

Decades after ruling toy aisles and Saturday morning cartoons, one iconic fantasy hero is proving the nostalgia still has plenty of pull

Hollywood has gotten pretty good at turning childhood nostalgia into box-office gold. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie became the first movie of 2026 to cross $1 billion worldwide and we're still talking about Barbie kicking off the toy-to-movie obsession into another gear a few years ago. And studios clearly aren’t finished rummaging through the toy box — John Cena is leading Matchbox: The Movie later this year, while The Legend of Zelda, another Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, and G.I. Joe: Ever Vigilant are among the familiar properties getting new big-screen lives.

Even Dungeons & Dragons, a tabletop staple that became synonymous with 1980s nerd culture, has enjoyed a major resurgence in recent years.

But nostalgia doesn’t always guarantee commercial success. One particularly expensive action-fantasy revival tried to bring an unmistakable hero of the 1980s back to theaters this summer. Audiences didn’t exactly rush out to see it — but it's been a hit since arriving on streaming.

After struggling during its theatrical run, Masters of the Universe, director Travis Knight’s $175 million live-action revival of He-Man, has become a major hit on Prime Video, ranking among the platform’s biggest movies globally, according to FlixPatrol.

What is Masters of the Universe about?

Masters of the Universe takes the basic He-Man mythology and gives it a modern blockbuster makeover.

Nicholas Galitzine stars as Prince Adam, who is forced to flee Eternia as a child after Skeletor, played by Jared Leto, seizes control of the kingdom. Adam spends years stranded on Earth, far removed from the heroic destiny waiting for him back home. Once he recovers the Sword of Power, he finally returns to Eternia and embraces his role as He-Man, joining the fight to take down Skeletor and reclaim the world he lost.

While the film wasn't a major hit, reviews were fairly positive. The movie sits at 67% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with a much stronger 86% audience score, while Polygon’s review called it a “nearly perfect sci-fi fantasy epic” and praised its colorful, unapologetically maximalist take on Eternia.

He-Man may be more than 40 years old, but audiences clearly aren’t done with Eternia yet.

Willl there be a Masters of the Universe 2?

That seems unlikely if you're going by the movie's box office performance. But with Masters of the Universe becoming a certified streaming hit — The Hollywood Reporter notes that it racked up 1.17 billion minutes of watch time during its first week on Prime Video — anything is possible. Amazon has sunk hundreds of millions into The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, so if it ever needs a replacement fantasy series, maybe the streamer will revisit Eternia at some point.

For now, Masters of the Universe director Travis Knight is on to his next project, Wildwood.