Sam Raimi’s “Send Help” Edges Out Markiplier’s “Iron Lung”: Box Office Thriller Showdown!

Send Help has overtaken Iron Lung in their box office clash.

The two latest horror films, battling closely for the top spot this weekend, both premiered in cinemas on January 30. Sam Raimi’s Send Help is his first R-rated horror film since The Gift in 2000, while the video game-based movie Iron Lung marks the directorial debut of Mark Fischbach, better known as YouTuber Markiplier.

According to Variety, by Sunday morning, Send Help is expected to pull in about $20 million from its opening weekend domestically. This puts it ahead of Iron Lung, which looks to garner around $18 million in its first three days, despite previously running neck-and-neck with the Raimi film.

Send Help is set to be the third consecutive Sam Raimi film to open at No. 1, following 2015’s Oz the Great and Powerful and 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. However, reaching No. 1 does not ensure profitability, given Send Help‘s reported $40 million budget, with a break-even point estimated at around $100 million.

While some recent horror flicks with similar opening numbers have surpassed $100 million globally, such as Saw X ($18.3 million opening, $125.3 million worldwide) and Longlegs ($22.4 million opening, $125.4 million worldwide), the Raimi film will need robust ongoing viewer interest. This seems likely, given the positive critical reception and a Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 94%.

Despite Iron Lung trailing behind Raimi’s latest, its performance is impressive on its own merits. Fischbach self-financed the film with less than $3 million. Without major studio backing, it still emerged as one of the biggest wide releases of the month and is likely already profitable. Typically, films need to earn about two and a half times their budget to break even in theaters, which suggests Iron Lung only needed around $7.5 million to reach this goal, a figure it has comfortably exceeded in just three days.

In summary, with Send Help and Iron Lung securing the top two spots on the domestic charts for the weekend, the horror genre has experienced a significant revival in January 2026 following the underperformance of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, which didn’t meet expectations to dethrone Avatar: Fire and Ash, and Return to Silent Hill, which debuted quietly at No. 7 with only $3.2 million.

Top Five Films in This Weekend’s Domestic Box Office

Here’s a detailed look at the top five domestic earners for the weekend:

The controversial new documentary Melania also features on the chart, debuting at No. 3 with the best domestic opening weekend for a non-music-related documentary in a decade. The Amazon-backed film reportedly needs to earn between $40 and $45 million to break even, and it’s unclear if it will maintain enough momentum to achieve this.

Meanwhile, the new Jason Statham action film Shelter is struggling to establish itself in the Top 5 with a 3-day domestic total of $5.505 million, which is far less than its reported $50 million budget. It is currently tied for the No. 5 spot with Avatar: Fire and Ash, which is expected to earn $5.5 million in its seventh weekend, experiencing only a slight 14% decline.

With three new titles entering the top of the chart, there has been considerable movement in the Top 5 overall. In addition to Avatar dropping from No. 2 to either No. 5 or No. 6, Zootopia 2 dropped from No. 3 to No. 4, though it actually saw a 9% increase from last weekend’s 3-day gross.

Meanwhile, the Chris Pratt sci-fi movie Mercy has dropped from No. 1 to No. 7 despite a relatively modest 53% decline. Additionally, The Housemaid (previously No. 4) and Marty Supreme (previously No. 5) fell off the chart, landing at No. 8 and No. 9 with narrow declines of 11% and 18% respectively in their seventh weekends.

With Melania, Send Help, Iron Lung, and possibly Shelter in the Top 5, this weekend marks the first of 2026 where three (or more) new releases have debuted on the chart simultaneously. The last time this occurred was the weekend before Christmas in 2025, which saw Avatar: Fire and Ash, David, The Housemaid, and The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debut at No. 1 through No. 4.