Disney's 'Send Help' Dominates Global Box Office, Securing 10th Consecutive Week at No. 1
Disney's 20th Century Studios' 'Send Help' dominated the global box office this weekend, marking Disney's 10th consecutive week at the top spot. The film, which had a worldwide debut of $28.1 million, including $20 million domestically and $8.1 million from 47 international markets, outperformed Markiplier's 'Iron Lung', which is estimated to have started with $20.9 million from 11 markets. 'Send Help' had a production budget of $40 million, making its performance even more impressive.
'Iron Lung', despite its indie powerhouse status, had several sell-out shows abroad, but it still fell short of 'Send Help' in terms of global box office numbers. The film's success is notable for being an R-rated original movie, further highlighting Disney's ability to appeal to diverse audiences.
'Send Help' opened at No. 1 in Mexico, Kuwait, Thailand, and Indonesia, and No. 2 in Bahrain, Iceland, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Brazil, Korea, India, Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam. It also performed well in Australia, Japan, and Taiwan, opening at No. 3 in these markets. The movie is set to hit France on February 11, directed by Sam Raimi.
'Zootopia 2' continued its strong performance in its 10th weekend, with a 9% increase in the US. This is a remarkable feat for an animated movie, especially on a non-holiday weekend. In China, 'Zootopia 2' saw a 13% increase, maintaining its No. 1 position with a cumulative total of $631.2 million in the Middle Kingdom. The film's worldwide box office total now stands at $1.77 billion, with $408.8 million from North America and $1.36 billion internationally.
'Iron Lung', on the other hand, performed modestly domestically, earning $17 million, with foreign box office sources estimating $3.9 million overseas from a limited rollout, including the UK/Ireland, Australia/New Zealand, Germany, and the Netherlands. The film's international start is 10% ahead of 'Black Phone' and 33% ahead of 'The Monkey'.
'Black Bear's' Jason Statham movie, 'Shelter', had a global opening of $13 million, with $7.5 million coming from overseas markets, playing in 12,971 locations and 27 territories. The film's domestic P&A cost was around $15 million, which is relatively lower compared to Statham's previous action pics.
'Shelter' dominated in the Middle East, earning $2.3 million, 40% ahead of 'The Accountant' and in sync with 'The Beekeeper'. In China, it debuted at No. 4 with $2 million, -37% behind 'A Working Man' and -53% behind 'The Beekeeper'. The Netherlands bowed to No. 3 with $447,000, 69% ahead of 'Accountant 2'.
Amazon MGM Studios' 'Mercy' had a global second frame of $10.3 million, with $5.6 million coming from abroad in 86 markets, and another $4.7 million in North America. The film's running global cume is $41 million, with $21.5 million from foreign markets, for a net production cost of $60 million before P&A.
