SEND HELP Opens Big, Giving Sam Raimi His Best Horror Box Office Debut Ever
Sam Raimi has bounced between genres for decades, jumping from superheroes to slapstick to straight-up nightmares. While plenty of fans know him for Spider-Man and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, his roots are soaked in horror.
That background is exactly why there was real curiosity surrounding Send Help, his latest genre outing. Turns out that curiosity paid off in a big way.
The film opened to an estimated $20 million domestically, according to Variety, edging out video game adaptation Iron Lung which pulled in $18 million. That debut gives Send Help the biggest opening weekend ever for a Raimi-directed horror film, topping the $15.8 million launch of Drag Me to Hell back in 2009.
International markets added another $8.1 million, pushing the worldwide opening total to $28.1 million. That’s a personal box office milestone for Raimi, set 17 years after his last horror high point.
Part of the draw is the cast. Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien headline the film, and both deliver performances that audiences are clearly responding to. McAdams brings a badass intensity, while O’Brien leans into the tension and desperation the story demands. Raimi builds the movie around them, keeping the focus tight and the stakes personal.
It also helps that Send Help is an original horror movie, something that still feels refreshing in a genre crowded with sequels and reboots. Horror usually performs well, but it isn’t immune to misfires.
Just a few weeks ago, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple came in under expectations despite strong reviews. Raimi’s film, on the other hand, managed to convert solid critical response into real audience turnout. It landed one of the highest Rotten Tomatoes scores of his career and connected with casual moviegoers, not just genre diehards.
Disney also picked its release window wisely. January tends to be quiet, especially for mid-budget releases, which allowed Send Help to stand out. There isn’t much heavy competition in early February either, giving it room to breathe.
The Strangers — Chapter 3 hits theaters this weekend, but that franchise hasn’t proven to be a massive draw. Last year’s Chapter 2 topped out at $21.9 million worldwide for its entire run, a number Send Help nearly cleared in a single weekend.
The big question now is how well the movie holds. Horror can be front-loaded, but that isn’t always the case. Titles like Sinners and Weapons showed last year that positive word of mouth can keep audiences coming back.
Send Help probably won’t benefit from the same awards-season momentum those films enjoyed, but it doesn’t really need it. The movie has been well received, it plays great on a big screen, and it’s arriving during a stretch with limited mainstream competition.
Looking ahead, Raimi’s film could enjoy a pretty comfortable run until Scream 7 storms theaters later this month. Other upcoming releases like Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die and Crime 101 feel more niche, aimed at specific audiences rather than the four-quadrant crowd. If things break right, Send Help could dominate the horror space for several weeks.
For Raimi, it’s a satisfying reminder that his horror instincts are still sharp and still bankable. For audiences, it’s proof that an original, well-crafted scarefest can still punch hard at the box office when everything lines up just right.