Sam Raimi’s original thriller Send Help has opened to $20 Million in ticket sales at the U.S. box office amid glowing audience reviews.
The survival thriller flick bested Iron Lung and Melania to #1 at the US box office this past weekend.
Film New Blitz’s RC Stacey reports on the massive win for original IP.
‘Send Help’ on top of the box office
With a reported production budget of $40 Million, Raimi’s latest (and his first original film since 2009’s Drag Me to Hell) beat out the competition and initial box-office projections to take the top spot this weekend.
Certified Fresh with a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Send Help is a blood-soaked raunch featuring Rachel McAdams as an under-valued employee to Dylan O’Brien’s cruel boss, whose fortunes are reversed after they get stranded on a desert island following a harrowing plane crash.
Originally predicted to debut in the ‘mid to low teens’, Raimi’s latest box office performance is a key indicator of a mature audience wanting something fresh and exciting.
No stranger to unconventional commercial filmmaking, Send Help features all the (grisly) trappings audiences have come to expect from a master of the macabre.
Send Help was followed closely by a $17.9 million debut for Iron Lung, written, directed by and starring YouTube sensation Markiplier, based on the video game of the same name.
Rounding out the top five
Coming in #3, Melania: 20 Days to History, directed by disgraced director Brett Ratner, opened to the best box office take for a documentary in a decade, with $7 Million.
Sitting paradoxically at 99% Audience Approval rating and a 6% Critic Rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it will be interesting to see how well the film performs across its entire theatrical run.
Rounding out the top five was the new Jason Statham vehicle Shelter (another original IP), and holding on in at number five after its mammoth worldwide run is Zootropolis 2.
This weekend represents a huge win for original films with theatrical distribution.
Seen any of the films mentioned? Let us know what you thought!
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