The first full weekend ahead of the Super Bowl is shaping up as a quiet stretch for theaters, with holdovers and niche releases filling the top slots while new wide product largely sits out the calendar. Friday estimates pointed to a market pulled in two directions: horror keeping steady weekday interest, and event titles chasing front-loaded fan turnout before Sunday’s television wall arrives.
Leading the frame is Send Help, tracking about $10 million for the weekend after a roughly $3 million Friday, according to projections compiled from exhibitor reports and industry models. The same projections put its domestic total near $35.8 million by Sunday night, a solid hold for a genre title playing into a sports-weekend headwind.
Second place is expected to go to Solo Mio, an Kevin James romantic comedy positioned as counterprogramming for older audiences. Forecasts put it near a $7.6 million opening, boosted by a 3,000-plus theater footprint that gives it room to play even if Sunday traffic thins.
The weekend’s most obvious “event cinema” play is Stray Kids: The dominATE Experience, which is projected around $5 million after a $3.2 million Friday that included about $900,000 from 351 IMAX shows. The film entered the weekend with strong advance momentum—reported U.S. ticket sales topped $1.4 million inside 24 hours at launch—suggesting a fanbase treating the release like a limited-time appointment rather than a standard run.
Iron Lung is expected to slide to roughly $4.7 million in its second weekend after a $1.5 million Friday, with projections placing its domestic total near $29.5 million by Sunday. Forecasting models continue to flag the same variable every year: the game itself. Analysts at The Numbers estimate the Super Bowl typically trims about 15% from Sunday grosses, with the margin shifting based on audience makeup and how close the matchup stays.
