Hollywood Box Office Slumps During Super Bowl Weekend as 'Send Help' Maintains Lead
LOS ANGELES - The survival thriller "Send Help" earned another $10 million to maintain its position as North America's top-grossing film during what proved to be a sluggish weekend at the box office, according to industry estimates released Sunday.
Hollywood largely stepped aside for football during the slow Super Bowl weekend, with "Send Help" repeating as the number one ticket seller while the Melania Trump documentary "Melania" experienced a sharp decline in its second weekend.
Super Bowl weekend traditionally ranks among the year's lowest-attended moviegoing periods. Last year marked the second-slowest weekend, while 2024 saw it finish dead last for cinema attendance.
'Send Help' Outperforms New Releases
Director Sam Raimi's film "Send Help," starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien, defeated the romantic comedy "Solo Mio" featuring Kevin James, which opened with $7.2 million, according to Comscore data.
With $53.7 million earned globally to date, the R-rated survival thriller has demonstrated solid midbudget success. Meanwhile, Disney celebrated as its remarkably enduring "Zootopia 2" surpassed $1.8 billion worldwide during its 11th week of release.
'Melania' Documentary Faces Steep Decline
"Melania," distributed by Amazon MGM, expanded to 300 additional theaters during its second weekend but experienced a dramatic drop to $2.4 million in ticket sales, representing a 67% decline from its much-discussed debut. The rapid downturn suggests the Brett Ratner-directed documentary may be heading toward commercial disappointment given its substantial budget.
Amazon MGM invested $40 million for film rights plus approximately $35 million for marketing. The documentary's North American total now stands at $13.4 million, while international figures remain undisclosed though expected to be minimal.
Kevin Wilson, head of domestic distribution for the studio, defended the performance, stating the movie's box-office results represent "a critical first moment that validates our wholistic distribution strategy, building awareness, engagement, and provides momentum ahead of the film's eventual debut on Prime Video."
The film's ticket sales became a talking point throughout the week, with late-night hosts Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel criticizing the movie's performance. Kimmel characterized the results as a "rigged outcome."
Independent Success Stories
Among the weekend's most unusual releases was the low-budget independent film "Iron Lung." YouTube filmmaker Markiplier (Mark Fischbach) self-financed and self-distributed the R-rated video game adaptation while also writing, directing, and starring in the production.
In its second weekend, "Iron Lung" claimed third place with $6.2 million, bringing its two-week total to $31.2 million against a production cost of just $3 million.
Fourth place went to the K-pop documentary "Stray Kids: The Dominate Experience," which opened with $5.5 million domestically and earned an additional $13.2 million internationally through Bleecker Street distribution.
The Luc Besson-directed Bram Stoker adaptation "Dracula," starring Caleb Landry Jones, opened in fifth place with $4.5 million, marking a studio-best debut for indie distributor Vertical.
Continued Box Office Performance
"Zootopia 2" maintained its impressive theatrical run, earning another $4 million during its 11th weekend for a cumulative domestic total exceeding $414 million.
Completing the top 10 were "Avatar: Fire and Ash" ($3.5 million), "The Strangers - Chapter 3" ($3.5 million), "Shelter" ($2.4 million), and "Melania" ($2.3 million).