‘Send Help’ Edges Indie Underdog ‘Iron Lung’ With $20M as ‘Melania’ Takes $7M at Box Office

Though overall totals remain below $100 million, the box office had much more business than it saw during last weekend’s blizzard-stricken frame as 20th Century’s “Send Help” and Markiplier’s “Iron Lung” lead the charts while Amazon MGM’s “Melania” provided some extra business from Donald Trump’s supporters.

It’s been a remarkable duel for the No. 1 spot between Sam Raimi’s darkly satirical class thriller and Mark Fischbach’s self-distributed adaptation of David Syzmanski indie horror video game. While Monday actuals may see their positions flip, “Send Help” currently has the No. 1 spot with an $20 million opening from 3,475 locations.

Word-of-mouth has been very strong for Raimi’s first original film since “Drag Me to Hell” in 2009, as “Send Help” has earned a B+ on CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 93% critics and 89% audience. While the Super Bowl next weekend and a stacked Valentine’s Day slate the weekend after may hamper its ability to leg out, the $40 million budget title should be able to post a decent theatrical profit.

“Iron Lung,” meanwhile, is already theatrically profitable with a spectacular $18 million opening from 3,015 locations against a reported $4 million budget, marking the most successful opening weekend ever for a film without an established theatrical distributor.

Because of its unique nature, it’s difficult to say how much legs “Iron Lung” truly has, as the film owes its success to Fischbach’s ability to drive his immense YouTube following out to theaters, transforming what was initially set to be a 60-screen limited release into a true nationwide one.

But even if “Iron Lung” is extremely frontloaded, it has already shown the nascent ability of movie theaters and independent filmmakers to find success outside the studio system, developing a fledgling system that exhibitors may need to survive the ongoing consolidation of Hollywood.

In third is Amazon MGM’s “Melania” with a $7 million opening from 1,778 locations. Initially projected for a $3-5 million opening, the film is getting slightly stronger-than-expected turnout from older, female supporters of Donald Trump in Republican-heavy states, topping the $5 million opening of Angel’s 2023 documentary “After Death” to earn the highest opening for a non-music doc of the last decade.

Reflective of the film’s political nature, Dallas was the top market for “Melania,” followed by Orlando, Tampa, Phoenix and Houston. Five Florida cities were included in the film’s top 10 highest grossing markets. Though interestingly enough, Minneapolis, the site of massive protests after the deaths of U.S. citizens Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by border patrol agents, ranked tenth.

At a time when major distributors have largely abandoned more liberally minded docs as a theatrical play and one of the space’s most progressive entities, Participant Media, has shut down, Amazon MGM paid a documentary record $40 million to acquire Brett Ratner’s film about the First Lady shortly following Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory along with $35 million in marketing costs.

With a price tag that big, “Melania” will need substantial post-theatrical revenue just to break even. In a statement, Amazon MGM distribution chief Kevin Wilson expressed confidence that will be the case.

“We’re very encouraged by the strong start and positive audience response, with early box office for ‘Melania’ exceeding our expectations,” Wilson said on Sunday. This momentum is an important first step in what we see as a long-tail lifecycle for both the film and the forthcoming docuseries, extending well beyond the theatrical window and into what we believe will be a significant run for both on our service.”

“We are confident in the long-term value this rollout will deliver to customers both in theaters, and for years to come on Prime Video,” he added.

To a lesser extent, post-theatrical revenue will be needed for Amazon MGM’s “Mercy” to turn a profit as it dropped 56% in its second weekend to $4.7 million. The $60 million-budgeted thriller has a total of $19.4 million domestic and $41 million worldwide after two weekends.

That won’t be the case for Disney’s “Zootopia 2,” which was released on digital platforms this past week but has still earned $5.8 million in its tenth weekend in theaters, good enough for the No. 4 spot on the charts. With $408 million domestic and $1.77 billion worldwide, the film needs just $16 million to become the highest grossing 2025 release in the U.S.

In a virtual tie for the last spot in the top 5 is the seventh weekend of 20th Century/Lightstorm’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” and the opening weekend of Black Bear’s Jason Statham action film “Shelter,” each with $5.5 million. “Fire and Ash” now has a total of $386 million domestic and $1.41 billion worldwide.

“Shelter,” which opened in 2,726 locations, has earned a B+ on CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 63% critics and 88% audience. It’s a better opening weekend for Black Bear than the poor $1.3 million opening for the Sydney Sweeney flop “Christy” this past November, but not much better considering the film carried a $50 million production budget covered by foreign sales.

Finally, A24 released the Charli XCX mockumentary “The Moment” in a four-screen platform release following its Sundance premiere earning $427,940 for a spectacular per theater average of $106,985. Only Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme” and “Uncut Gems” have earned higher averages in A24’s history.

Starring Charli XCX as a fictional version of herself as she starts a new tour in the wake of the “Brat” cultural phenomenon she started in 2024, the film has received a 60% Rotten Tomatoes score from Sundance critics and will try to build word of mouth among the pop star’s fans.

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