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This weekend’s box office was full of surprises—itself not too surprising, considering the unconventional theater landscape we found ourselves in with the release of Amazon’s documentary/propaganda film following First Lady Melania Trump. But the real success story was away from corporate giants and instead in the hands of Youtube star Markiplier.
Although Deadline reports Disney’s release of Sam Raimi’s much-lauded return to horror in Send Help won out the relatively quiet weekend at the box office with a $20 million opening, perhaps the real success story is that not too far behind it at a nearly $18 million opening was Markiplier’s (real name Mark Fischbach) Iron Lung, adapting the 2022 sci-fi horror game of the same name.
Written, directed by, and starring the Youtuber, Iron Lung follows Markiplier navigating undersea horrors in a galaxy rocked by the sudden disappearance of stars and humanity’s interstellar colonies and scored a major win in its opening weekend haul—especially considering its roughly $3 million production budget.
But it’s perhaps made all the more impressive considering the production of the film it beat and rounding out the top three: Amazon’s Melania, the Brett-Ratner-directed documentary following the incumbent First Lady as she prepared for the 20 days before Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th President of the United States.
Critically drubbed and mired in controversy—releasing amid widespread backlash to ICE operations in Minnesota and other Democrat-leaning states—Amazon’s acquisition of the film and an upcoming supporting streaming TV series has largely been seen by critics as an attempt by the company to curry further favor with the second Trump administration. Melania came in just shy of initial expectations with a $7 million opening, the highest-grossing box office open for a documentary since the 2012 nature documentary Chimpanzee.
Backed by an aggressive push from the President himself, who claimed on his social media platforms that tickets for the documentary were “selling out, FAST,” analysis of the film’s performance saw it win a majority of white and female audiences for the weekend, according to Variety, performing strongly outside of typical cinema-going markets in states with strong support for President Trump.
Amazon MGM spent a hefty $40 million acquiring Melania, almost doubling its investment on top of that with an estimated $35 million marketing push, including the First Lady getting in years late on the special edition popcorn bucket trend. But it’s likely that the film will recoup at least some of that money when it moves to streaming platforms, while Amazon remains bullish on the film’s performance thus far.
“We’re very encouraged by the strong start and positive audience response, with early box office for Melania exceeding our expectations,” Amazon MGM’s head of domestic theatrical distribution, Kevin Wilson, said in a statement. “This momentum is an important first step in what we see as a long-tail lifecycle for both the film and the forthcoming docu-series, extending well beyond the theatrical window and into what we believe will be a significant run for both on our service. We are confident in the long-term value this rollout will deliver to customers both in theaters, and for years to come on Prime Video.”
It’s likely the success of the film for Amazon will be seen less in how much money it makes back on investment, and instead how much influence it earns Jeff Bezos in the halls of the White House.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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Source: Gizmodo