tops North American box office in opening weekend

Twentieth Century Studios' thriller "Send Help" opened atop the North American box office with an estimated 20 million dollars in its first weekend.



Directed by Sam Raimi, the survival film stars Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien as an employee and her boss who become stranded on a deserted island as the only survivors of a plane crash.



"Send Help" has earned a 93 percent approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 178 reviews to date.



It also received a "B+" grade from audiences polled by market research firm CinemaScore, which uses a standard scale from "A+" to "F."



"Iron Lung," a science fiction horror film that was self-funded, opened in second place to a debut of 17.86 million dollars.



Rounding out the top three, Amazon MGM Studios' "Melania," a documentary film about U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, landed in third with 7.04 million dollars.