Sam Raimi is an icon within the movie trade in relation to each horror and thrillers, and his return to the director’s chair with Ship Assist provides a little bit of each. Starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien, Ship Assist is a survival thriller with notes of grisly horror, and to this point it is earned nothing however rave critiques.
Film star-laden, adult-aimed thrillers was once a mainstay on the theater, and whereas there are nonetheless loads of choices annually, they’ve fallen out of favor as field workplace returns on the subgenre fizzled. Extra simple horror has stolen a lot of the highlight, as these films can sometimes be made for cheaper and have a extra lasting cultural affect.
Nevertheless, a stunningly profitable R-rated thriller launched on the finish of 2025 quietly racked up over $300 million on the field workplace, which can sign that there’s a newfound urge for food for related fare. Raimi’s newest might lean a bit nearer in the direction of horror than the current field workplace darling, however the similarities level to a considerably related alternative for monetary success.
The Housemaid Shares A Lot Of Options With Ship Assist
Paul Feig’s adaptation of Freida McFadden’s psychological thriller The Housemaid launched the weekend earlier than Christmas 2025, and made a formidable, albeit modest mark on the field workplace. Expectations had been tempered given its launch alongside James Cameron’s Avatar: Fireplace and Ash, however The Housemaid nonetheless managed a tidy $19 million opening weekend.
Nevertheless, the star energy of Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, the recognition of the novel it was based mostly on, and an absence of impactful different fare within the following weeks stored The Housemaid going robust each domestically and abroad. It merely refused to go away, almost matching its field workplace return in its second weekend, then dropping simply 25% in its third weekend. As of this writing, it is generated $305.4 million worldwide on a funds of simply $35 million.
The success of The Housemaid may act as a template for Ship Assist. The violent, psychological thriller points of Ship Assist mirror that of The Housemaid, and it boasts comparable two-star energy in McAdams and O’Brien. There’s a “depraved enjoyable” aspect to each films, because the intrigue is born from the cat-and-mouse sport and eventual battle between the 2 leads.
Ship Assist might lose a few of the goal demographic of The Housemaid resulting from its extra ugly horror parts, but it surely ought to make up the distinction from the built-in horror demographic that it appeals to. Whereas it is most likely an excessive amount of to count on it to match the field workplace return of The Housemaid given its January/February launch date, Ship Assist should not have any bother returning a hefty revenue on its $40 million funds.
Ship Assist Ought to Have First rate Legs At The Field Workplace
Ship Assist ought to prime the field workplace in its opening weekend, as most estimates have it pegged for round $12-$17 million. What it must observe The Housemaid in is its “legs”, or the flexibility to maintain ticket gross sales past its opening weekend. A typical film launch will see a drop between 40-50% in its second weekend, with something lower than that qualifying as reliable legs.
Constructive word-of-mouth and the opposite aforementioned components noticed The Housemaid drop simply 4% in its second week, and whereas it would be almost unattainable for Ship Assist to duplicate that success, it does have some constructive components working for it. The unbelievable critic and viewers critiques ought to yield loads of word-of-mouth and social media buzz past the primary weekend, and it has the additional advantage of Sam Raimi’s identify recognition.
Ship Assist additionally would not have a lot in its manner so far as field workplace competitors within the subsequent few weeks. The horror viewers might pivot a bit to the Dafne Eager-led supernatural horror Whistle or The Strangers: Chapter 3 the next week, however Ship Assist will get roughly two weeks to itself to seize the grownup thriller viewers earlier than the motion thriller Crime 101 and the grownup romance Wuthering Heights land in theaters for Valentine’s Day.
It is almost unattainable for Ship Assist to completely replicate the field workplace return that The Housemaid yielded, but it surely does have sufficient related parts in its favor that it may a minimum of replicate the sample of longevity. With word-of-mouth already taking off because of its excellent critiques, I count on it to exceed preliminary field workplace estimates for opening weekend on the very least.
- Launch Date
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January 30, 2026
- Runtime
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113 Minutes
- Director
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Sam Raimi
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Dylan O’Brien
Bradley Preston
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