Sam Raimi’s New Horror Movie Eyes Box Office Record in Opening Weekend

January 28, 2026, 2:15pm

Only two movies in history have posted opening weekends in excess of $60 million domestically in January (Bad Boys for Life and American Sniper), so it’s safe to say this month typically is not associated with massive, record-shattering box office numbers. As the dust settles after a busy holiday season, business usually slows down at the theater in January. Even with that in mind, 2026 has gotten off to a rough start. Some notable new arrivals, including 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple and Mercy, underwhelmed in their debuts. This weekend, another new genre film looks to turn things around. The Sam Raimi horror movie Send Help is opening, and it might make a bit of box office history.

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According to Variety, Send Help is projected to gross between $14-17 million domestically in its opening weekend. Assuming it hits the high end of those estimates, there’s a good chance Send Help posts the biggest debut for a Raimi-directed horror movie, besting the $15.8 million Drag Me to Hell earned during its first weekend back in 2009. At the international box office, Send Help is looking to gross between $10-12 million, so it’s shaping up to be a solid start for the mid-budget film.

Can Send Help Exceed Box Office Projections?

Last year, there were several horror movies that outperformed their initial box office projections and fared much better than expected. That trend did not continue a couple of weeks ago when The Bone Temple opened. When the zombie sequel was getting ready to debut, estimates had it pegged for around $22 million over the extended holiday frame. The Bone Temple ended up grossing a little over $14 million instead, which is a considerable difference. It shows that even after horror enjoyed a banner year with hits like Sinners, Weapons, and The Conjuring: Last Rites, the genre isn’t immune to disappointments of its own.

What made The Bone Temple‘s debut so surprising is the fact that the film received very positive reviews. That clearly didn’t influence general audiences to come out to the theater, so it’ll be interesting to see if Send Help‘s word of mouth has any positive impact. The film has earned one of the highest Rotten Tomatoes scores of Raimi’s career, with critics praising the performances from leads Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien, and Raimi’s gleeful filmmaking approach as he returns to his horror roots. That combination should theoretically give Send Help‘s prospects a boost, though The Bone Temple just proved positive reviews don’t always lead to high box office numbers.

The key difference here is that, for lack of a better term, Send Help is much more of a “conventional” horror title than The Bone Temple. While the 28 Days Later franchise has always been critically acclaimed, its appeal is much more niche than other horror properties. In contrast, Send Help puts a fun spin on a high concept and looks to draw viewers in with recognizable famous faces. While people have pointed out that Send Help plays with audience expectations to craft a more fulfilling experience, on the surface it looks to be like a more “crowd-pleasing” genre exercise that’s worth checking out on the big screen.

Another factor to keep in mind is the weather. One of the reasons why Mercy opened as low as it did is because people on the East coast were dealing with a nasty winter storm. There’s the potential for more snow this weekend, so that could have an impact on the box office. If people are snowed in, they won’t be able to make it to the theater — even if Send Help is high on their watchlist. Fortunately, the horror movie was budgeted at only $40 million, so it doesn’t need to break the bank to turn a profit.

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