“Send Help,” “Iron Lung” Rule Box-Office
It has been a fascinating weekend at the box-office.
Sam Raimi’s “Send Help” came out on top, the well-received dark comedy/survival horror tale performing above expectations to land a $20 million opening weekend domestically after a bumper Saturday of $7.1 million, down just $100,000 from its Friday (with previews) haul of $7.2 million.
The R-rated film pulled in a further $8.1 million overseas from 47 markets for a $28 million start – a very healthy kick off for a $40 million budget genre feature. It also gives Disney three titles now still dominating the global box-office with “Zootopia 2” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash” still pulling in punters.
One of the biggest stories of the weekend is “Iron Lung,” YouTuber Markiplier’s $3 million indie horror film, based on the indie horror video game, about a convict piloting a submarine in an ocean of blood.
That title will come in a close second with $17.8 million domestically and a further $3.9 million overseas. The film not only stars Mark Fischback (Markiplier) but was penned, directed, financed and self-distributed by him – bypassing studios altogether and marketing purely to his 73 million followers across digital platforms. That it even got in the same league as a major Disney release is remarkable.
The other big film this weekend was the Brett Ratner-directed Melania Trump documentary “Melania” which pulled in $7 million domestically to come in fourth. According to Amazon MGM, 72% of ticket buyers were female and 83% were above the age of 45 which are an underserved demographic at cinemas.
While the critical reviews were dire, the CinemaScore was an ‘A’ suggesting the film did preach to the faithful. As one box-office pundit put it, the film is playing more like a faith-based movie than a regular documentary.
Finally, the Jason Statham-led “Shelter” was pushed to sixth with $5.5 million, a fairly dismal start for a $50 million budget film though its $7.5 million overseas take was decidedly more impressive.
In limited release, Charli xcx mockumentary “The Moment” landed a $106,985 per screen average on four screens. The Chris Pratt-led “Mercy” fell to seventh in its second week, down 56% to $4.7 million and a worldwide haul to date of $41 million.
Source: Deadline