5 Minutes
Send Help Holds No.1 Spot in a Slow Super Bowl Frame
Sam Raimi’s latest horror entry, Send Help, has kept its grip on the domestic box office in its second weekend, pulling in $10 million in U.S. theaters despite the dampening effects of Super Bowl weekend. That brings its domestic total to $35.8 million. International returns added another $2.2 million this week, lifting its global tally to $53.7 million after two weeks in release.
Raimi’s name carries weight in the horror community — from The Evil Dead to Drag Me to Hell — and Send Help’s steady hold suggests his brand of kinetic, slightly tongue-in-cheek terror still finds an audience. The film’s performance is respectable given the competition for attention during a marquee sports weekend, and it signals that mid-budget, director-driven horror remains a reliable draw for adult audiences.
The rest of the Top 5: Newcomers and genre fare
Solo Mio, a star-driven comedy led by Kevin James, opened in second place with $7.2 million domestically. The film has yet to start its international rollout, so its worldwide prospects will depend heavily on overseas distribution and the response to James’ crowd-pleasing persona.
Iron Lung, the claustrophobic sci-fi horror that charted at No. 2 last week, slipped to third with a $6 million domestic weekend and a $30.8 million domestic total. Its international box office now stands at $3.4 million, for a global sum of $34.2 million after two weeks. Iron Lung’s performance underscores a continued appetite for intense, concept-driven horror — particularly films that perform strongly among core genre fans and through word-of-mouth.
Stray Kids: The dominATE Experience lands at No. 4 in its U.S. opening with $5.5 million, but its international start is especially telling: $13.2 million overseas brings its global debut to $18.7 million. K-pop concert films and fans’ events often deliver robust overseas numbers, and this release shows how ardent fanbases can create a solid global opening even when U.S. receipts are modest.
Rounding out the top five, Dracula opened domestically to $4.5 million. The Warner/Universal-style period horror (featuring Christoph Waltz) has performed far better internationally, where it has taken in $29.1 million, putting the global tally at $33.7 million in week one.
Box Office Snapshot: Top 10
- Send Help — Weekend: $10M | Global: $53.7M | Week 2
- Solo Mio — Weekend: $7.2M | Global: $7.2M | Week 1
- Iron Lung — Weekend: $6M | Global: $34.2M | Week 2
- Stray Kids: The dominATE Experience — Weekend: $5.5M | Global: $18.7M | Week 1
- Dracula — Weekend: $4.5M | Global: $33.7M | Week 1
- Zootopia 2 — Weekend: $4M | Global: $1802.8M | Week 11
- Avatar: Fire and Ash — Weekend: $3.5M | Global: $1439.1M | Week 8
- The Strangers: Chapter 3 — Weekend: $3.5M | Global: $3.5M | Week 1
- Shelter — Weekend: $2.4M | Global: $26.7M | Week 2
- Melania — Weekend: $2.3M | Global: $13.5M | Week 2 (Values in millions USD.)
Context and trends
A few industry patterns are visible here: auteur-driven horror still punches above its weight class financially, while event and franchise films maintain long tails (see Zootopia 2 and Avatar). Super Bowl weekends typically compress box office totals — casual moviegoers often choose the game, which means titles aimed at committed audiences, like Send Help and Iron Lung, fare comparatively well.
The divergent domestic/international split for films like Dracula also highlights how casting and period aesthetics can play differently overseas. Conversely, K-pop-related releases continue to prove that dedicated global fan communities can carry an opening weekend, even if U.S. uptake is comparatively small.
"Raimi’s latest shows that a well-crafted horror movie can resist the weekend noise and find an audience," says cinema historian Marko Jensen. "It’s not a runaway blockbuster, but Send Help’s steady numbers reflect durable fan loyalty and smart positioning."
Notes and trivia
- Sam Raimi’s return to horror invites comparisons to his earlier cult classics; critics note the mix of humor and dread that’s become a Raimi signature.
- Kevin James’ casting in Solo Mio marks another example of a comedian anchoring a wide-release crowd-pleaser, a strategy studios still rely on.
- Stray Kids’ strong international opening underlines the commercial power of idol fandom in cinemas worldwide.
Overall, this weekend’s box office reads like a story of niche strengths: directors and fanbases delivering predictable, if not spectacular, returns while major tentpoles continue their slow run. For movie lovers, it’s a reminder that variety — from arthouse horror to concert films — keeps theatrical offerings vibrant.
Comments
Tomas
Is Dracula's big international haul just casting or is there more? marketing, release windows, local tastes — curious how studios parse that
datapulse
Wow Raimi still got it! Send Help holding during Super Bowl weekend, kinda surprising but deserved. gonna try to catch it this week
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