Box Office Round-Up ~ 2/2/26

It was an all new group of movies atop the box office charts to kick off February. While Sam Raimi might be more associated with the likes of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange these days, his roots have always been in R-rated horror and thrillers (Ranging from The Evil Dead to A Simple Plan, etc.). His latest is survival thriller Send Help, starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien, which opened this weekend with a very solid $19.1 million. Whether or not it continues this run into February remains to be seen, but solid audience response will surely give it some life.

Another horror movie debuted at second place in Iron Lung. Written, directed by and starring Mark Fischbach (better known as Markiplier), this is the culmination of a long campaign by both the video game YouTuber and his fans to get the film made and distributed. Its opening weekend gross of $17.8 million is another feather in the cap of the ever-dependable horror genre and perhaps a turning point for how YouTubers make the transition to the big screen.

Third place saw the documentary Melania, director Brett Ratner’s chronicle of the days leading up to President Donald Trump’s second inauguration, seen through the eyes of First Lady Melania Trump. Amazon and MGM put over $70 million into the documentary’s production and while it’s unlikely they’ll make that money back, Melania did open to a better-than-expected $7.1 million. Documentaries aren’t exactly big box office, but obviously anything Trump-related comes with a sort of built-in audience and it looks like they showed up for opening weekend.

Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash rounded out the top five with $5.9 million and $5.6 million respectively. This coming weekend’s new releases are another odd bunch, led by The Strangers: Chapter 3, writer/director Luc Besson’s take on Dracula, and finally The Moment, Charli XCX’s mockumentary satirizing her 2024-25 Brat Tour.

1. Send Help ($19.1 MM)
Director: Sam Raimi (CAA)
Writers: Damian Shannon, Mark Swift (UTA)
Cast: Rachel McAdams (WME)
Dylan O'Brien (WME)
Dennis Haysbert (Independent Artist Group)

2. Iron Lung ($17.8 MM)
Director: Mark Fischbach (Daylight Media)
Writers: Mark Fischbach (Daylight Media)
Cast: Mark Fischbach (Daylight Media)
Troy Baker (Buchwald)
Seán McLoughlin (CAA)

3. Melania ($7.1 MM)
Director: Brett Ratner
Cast: Melania Trump
Donald Trump
Hervé Pierre (Zelig)

4. Zootopia 2 ($5.9 MM)
Director: Jared Bush
Writers: Jared Bush, Byron Howard
Cast: Ginnifer Goodwin (WME)
Jason Bateman (CAA)
Ke Huy Quan (WME)

5. Avatar: Fire and Ash ($5.6 MM)
Director: James Cameron (CAA)
Writers: James Cameron (CAA), Rick Jaffa (WME), Amanda Silver (WME), Josh Friedman (CAA), Shane Salerno (CAA)
Cast: Sam Worthington (WME)
Zoe Saldaña (CAA)
Sigourney Weaver (UTA)

Source: Box Office Mojo, The Numbers