Whether pre- or post-Pandemic, the box office has almost always been weak over Super Bowl weekend. That did not change with the Patriots taking on the Seahawks and a hyped Bad Bunny halftime show. Despite new entries in the marketplace, Sam Raimi’s “Send Help” remained at no. 1 with another $10 million while “Stray Kids: The DominATE experience” and the Kevin James dramedy “Solo Mio” were close behind.
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“Send Help” dropped 48% for another $10 million and $35.8 million to date. Worldwide, the Rachel McAdams and Dyan O’Brien thriller has pulled in $53.7 million. At a reported $40 million production cost, the 20th Century Studios release is going to need international grosses to pick up if it has a shot at breaking even. The project was originally set up at Sony Pictures, which intended to sell it to Netflix for a direct-to-streaming release before Raimi found it a new home.
Angel Studios’ first collaboration with James saw “Solo Mio” pull in a solid $7.2 million in 3,052 theaters. This was a slightly better-than-average debut for the faith-centric distributor. At a reported $4 million production budget, “Mio” should easily be profitable by next weekend.
After an incredible first week, “Iron Lung” dropped 67% for another $6 million and $31 million domestic. Still a massive win for streamer and YouTube personality Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach, who directed, self-financed, and self-distributed the $3 million horror flick. Also, a massive miss for a ton of distributors who didn’t think a wide release would smash.
New Line Cinema dropped “The Strangers: Chapter 3” in 2,565 theaters for a weak $3.4 million. Already one of the worst-reviewed films of the year (a 24 grade on Metacritic, a 19% rotten on Rotten Tomatoes), these two sequels may have killed the franchise for the foreseeable future. That is, unless it massively overperforms overseas, which, considering “Chapter 2” earned $21 million globally, is theoretically possible.
Bleeker Street released “Stray Kids: The DominATE experience” through its Crosswalk division, and the Stray Kids concert flick took in a fantastic $5.5 million. This is the second biggest wide release opening or expansion in the history of the indie distributor. Global cume stands at $19.1 million, where Universal Pictures International handled most of the overseas launch.
Speaking of historic openings, Vertical Entertainment landed its biggest debut ever with Luc Besson’s “Dracula.” The adaptation of the classic Bram Stoker novel pulled in just $4.5 million in 2,050 theaters, but it was still a major step for the indie that has been trying to make bigger waves theatrically. The Caleb Landry Jones and Christoph Waltz horror flick has now taken in $33.6 million worldwide.
As expected, the “Melania” documentary dropped 67% for another $2.3 million and $13.3 million to date. At a $40 million budget before marketing, Amazon MGM Studios continues to position the release as a promotional mechanism for its eventual Prime Video release. Sure, Jan. That’s what it’s always been about. Sure.
Expanding to 500 theaters, A24’s “The Moment” took in another $1.68 million for $2.2 million domestic. The Chari XCX fictional narrative reportedly cost $4 million. It should break even for A24 on foreign sales and is positioned to be a nice hit on HBO Max. That being said, the indie distributor may have made a mistake not going wide last weekend when the hype for the flick peaked.
Harry Lighton’s “Pillion” had a spectacular debut in New York and Los Angeles, taking in $250,000 in just 4 theaters, or an eye-popping $60,442 per. It expands nationwide on Friday. The 2025 Cannes Film Festival world premiere has already earned $1.7 million worldwide.
NEON dropped Oliver Laxe’s “Sirat” in New York and Los Angeles in four theaters for a strong $34,063 per screen. The Oscar nominee or International Feature Film has taken in over $10 million worldwide.
Notable cume updates include Best Picture nominee “Hamnet” crossing $70 million worldwide, “Zootopia 2” hitting $1.8 billion globally, “The Housemaid” hitting $350 million global, and “Marty Supreme” hitting $147 million worldwide, surpassing last year’s Timothee Chalamet Best Picture nominee, “A Complete Unknown,” which took in $140 million.
New releases on Friday include Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” with Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, “Crime 101” with Chris Hemsworth and Halle Berry, and Sony Pictures Animation’s “GOAT” featuring Steph Curry.
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