Box Office: Melania vs. McAdams vs. Markiplier

The most contentious box-office weekend of the month is here with a bunch of smaller new titles arriving that, going in, no one is quite sure how they will perform.

The biggest domestic commercial release is Sam Raimi’s survival horror/dark comedy film “Send Help” starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien. That pulled in over $7 million in opening day sales (with previews) ahead of a $16-18 million estimated opening weekend haul.

That film is certainly the most well-received of this week’s new entries with a solid 76/100 on Metacritic and 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.

However, it faces surprisingly stiff competition from “Iron Lung,” the ultra-low-budget indie horror film from YouTuber Markiplier based on the game of the same name. Critics’ review scores aren’t out, but the reviews so far have been mixed, with the most common complaint being the film’s pacing within its 127-minute runtime.

Costing under $3 million to make, “Iron Lung” opened with $9 million in opening day sales (with previews) – though that’s expected to be front-loaded by pre-sales. The film’s overall weekend haul is estimated to land at $14-17 million.

Then there’s the U.S. First Lady’s documentary “Melania” which is headed for a better-than-expected $8 million debut in third place following a $2.85 million Friday taking. If the projections hold, it will be the best opening in a decade for a documentary. Rural areas, along with Florida and Texas, are powering its sales.

That said, this is not a routine documentary with Amazon MGM Studios spending $40 million for the worldwide licensing rights, along with $35 million on the global marketing campaign.

Directed by controversial filmmaker Brett Ratner, the title’s reviews are savage with a 5/100 on Metacritic score and 8% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film has generated some interesting review quotes such as Consequence’s Liz Shannon Miller says “Look, Leni Riefenstahl was a terrible person, but at least she had some style” while The Guardian’s Xan Brooks dubs it a “gilded trash remake of Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest.”

Those will be followed by “Zootopia 2” with $6 million and “Mercy” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash” duking it out for fifth place with $5 million each – the Chris Pratt-led “Mercy” looking to drop 54% in its second weekend.

Lost amidst all this is the Jason Statham-led action thriller “Shelter ” which looks set to debut with $4 million.

Source: Deadline