{"id":556808,"date":"2026-01-31T18:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T18:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/556808\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T18:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T18:04:09","slug":"iron-lung-sinks-the-competition-with-8-9-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/556808\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Iron Lung’ Sinks the Competition With $8.9 Million"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tA flurry of newcomers from familiar faces (Sam Raimi and Jason Statham) and unexpected places (Melania<\/a> Trump and Mark \u201cMarkiplier\u201d Fischbach) hit the box office on Friday, but Fischbach\u2019s indie horror \u201cThe Iron Lung<\/a>\u201d came out on top.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIron Lung\u201d pulled in an estimated $8.9 million on Friday from 3,015 theaters for a first-place finish, an impressive result considering the film was self-distributed and funded by YouTube superstar Fischbach, aka Markiplier. Domestic gross should climb to $17 million through Sunday, well past initial projections of $10 million. Based on the 2022 indie horror game, the film is co-directed by the game\u2019s developer, David Szymanski, and Fischbach, who also stars.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIron Lung\u201d follows a fugitive in a post-apocalyptic future who, after a world-ending event known as \u201cThe Quiet Rapture,\u201d must scavenge natural resources in an ocean of blood. Other cast members include Troy Baker, Elsie Lovelock, Se\u00e1n McLoughlin and Caroline Kaplan.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSend Help<\/a>,\u201d a bloody desert island thriller from the \u201cEvil Dead\u201d mastermind Raimi, landed at No. 2 with $7.2 million on Friday from 3,475 North American theaters. Disney and 20th Century are hoping for $18 million by Sunday, a figure that could easily climb higher. Raimi, a fan favorite among horror fans, combined with the bankability of the genre, could spell sleeper hit status for \u201cSend Help.\u201d Although settling for second on Friday, \u201cSend Help\u201d is expected to win the weekend. The film carries a $40 million price tag.<\/p>\n

\n\tRachel McAdams and Dylan O\u2019Brien headline \u201cSend Help,\u201d which follows an overworked and undervalued employee (McAdams) and her younger, douchey boss (O\u2019Brien), whose power dynamic is reversed after their plane crashes on a remote island.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn third place was Brett Ratner\u2019s \u201cMelania,\u201d which follows the First Lady in the 20 days leading up to Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s second presidential inauguration. The doc grossed $2.9 million on Friday from 1,778 theaters. The film looks to earn $8.1 million by Sunday, a significant uptick from initial projections of $3 million to $5 million. Amazon MGM spent $40 million to acquire the film. \u201cMelania\u201d is Ratner\u2019s first big-screen bout since sexual assault allegations in 2017 saw him black listed from the industry. He will also soon direct \u201cRush Hour 4,\u201d reportedly at the White House\u2019s request. <\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tFourth place went to the Statham action vehicle \u201cShelter\u201d from indie banner Black Bear. The film made $1.9 million domestically on Friday from 2,726 theaters. Directed by Ric Roman Waugh (\u201dAngel Has Fallen,\u201d \u201cGreenland\u201d), the film is projected to reach $5 million by Sunday. The film cost $50 million.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cShelter\u201d follows Statham as a reclusive man who rescues a girl from the sea, setting off a deadly chain of events that forces him to confront his dark past. Other cast members include Harriet Walter, Bill Nighy, Daniel Mays, Naomi Ackie and Bodhi Rae Breathnach.<\/p>\n

\n\tFifth place went to Disney holdover \u201cZootopia 2.\u201d The animated sequel earned $1.3 million on Friday. It should add $5.8 million by Sunday, bringing the domestic total to about $408 million.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A flurry of newcomers from familiar faces (Sam Raimi and Jason Statham) and unexpected places (Melania Trump and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":556809,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[69,171,237740,148712,154140,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-556808","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-donald-trump","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-iron-lung","11":"tag-melania","12":"tag-send-help","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115991037112788860","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}