1. Send Help (review)- $20M
Sam Raimi’s return to horror with Send Help beat most projections with a $20M opening weekend. That’s larger than his last major horror pic, 2009’s Drag Me to Hell, which opened with $15.8M. The film marks the seventh #1 opening for Raimi, who has been busy in blockbuster territory for much of his career with three Spider-Man movies, Oz the Great and Powerful, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Reviews have been strong for Send Help with 93% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and 88% audience score.
2. Iron Lung– $17.8M
Dropping a Terrifier-like bomb on the box office was YouTuber Mark Fischbach’s claustrophobic horror Iron Lung, based on the video game. A smart, targeted campaign aimed at genre and video game fans worked like a charm, as it nearly beat out Send Help as the two films likely stole audiences from one another. What may have hurt a larger debut was word of mouth, with the film only holding a 50% from critics on RT, while the audience score is 89%.
3. Melania– $7M
You’ve undoubtedly seen all of the memes of empty theaters showing Melania doc. I’ve posted some of them, too. But the truth is that $7M isn’t bad for a wide documentary release, especially on someone as universally disliked as Melania Trump. The number is pretty much in line with most conservative/faith-based movies, like the Reagan film from a couple of years ago, so it’s obvious who is showing up for this. Backing that up is a 99% audience score on RT, suggesting that only MAGA are paying to see it. Meanwhile, the critic score is at 10%, because it’s clearly a liberal conspiracy. Just kidding.
4. Zootopia 2– $5.8M/$408.9M
5. Shelter (review)- $5.505M
Jason Statham couldn’t find safe haven at the box office for his latest actioner, Shelter, which opened at a low $5.5M. It’s been a long time since Statham had a major film open at such dismal numbers, and it’s a shame because this is a pretty good film, directed by the reliable Ric Roman Waugh. I think there was just too much competition in a surprisingly packed January weekend for genre flicks.
6. Avatar: Fire and Ash– $5.5M/$386.1M
7. Mercy– $4.7M/$19.4M
8. The Housemaid– $3.5M/$120.6M
9. Marty Supreme– $2.9M/$90.8M
10. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple– $1.6M/$23.6M
