Box Office: 'Stray Kids' Dominates; 'Send Help' in Second Place
The weekend box office is shaping up to be a quiet affair, with major studios holding back their releases to avoid the Super Bowl's dominant performance. This left the K-pop concert film 'Stray Kids: The dominATE Experience' to take the top spot on Friday. The film, which showcases the K-pop group's world tour and sold-out performance at SoFi Stadium, grossed an estimated $3 million from 1,724 North American theaters. By Sunday, the domestic gross is projected to reach $5 million.
In second place, 'Send Help' earned $2.8 million on its second Friday, a 61% decline from its opening day. Disney and 20th Century's 'Send Help' is a bloody comedy-thriller about a survival-savvy employee and her boss, stranded on a remote island. The film is expected to add $9 million to $10 million by Sunday, bringing its total domestic gross to $34 million. Despite its Friday ranking, 'Send Help' is predicted to win the weekend.
'Solo Mio', Angel Studios' new release, took third place with an estimated gross of $2.7 million from 3,052 theaters. The romantic comedy, starring Kevin James, follows a man who goes on his honeymoon alone after being left at the altar. By Sunday, the film is projected to earn $6.6 million.
Angel Studios, an indie distributor, made its theatrical debut with 'Sound of Freedom' in 2023, which became a sleeper hit with a worldwide gross of $250 million. Other recent releases include 'David', 'The Senior', and 'Grow'.
'Iron Lung', the directorial debut of YouTube star Mark 'Markiplier' Fischbach, landed in fourth place with $2.04 million domestic, a 77% decline from its opening day. Based on the 2022 indie horror game, the film follows a convict in a post-apocalyptic world. By Sunday, 'Iron Lung' is projected to make $5.7 million, bringing its domestic total to $30.7 million. Fischbach served as co-director, writer, editor, executive producer, distributor, financier, and star.
'The Strangers: Chapter 3', a horror newcomer, took seventh place with $1.58 million on Friday. The third installment in the rebooted 'Strangers' trilogy is expected to earn $3.8 million by Sunday. Starring Madelain Petsch, Gabriel Basso, Froy Gutierrez, and Ema Horvath, the film follows a young woman hunted by mask-wearing psychopaths.
In fifth place, Vertical's 'Dracula', directed by Luc Besson, earned $2.03 million on Friday and is projected to make $4.1 million by Sunday. Caleb Landry Jones stars as the titular vampire, while Christoph Waltz plays his nemesis in 'Van Helsing'.
