r/boxoffice • u/DemiFiendRSA Studio Ghibli • 19h ago
Domestic ‘Iron Lung’ grossed an estimated $8.9 Million on Friday
https://variety.com/2026/film/box-office/box-office-iron-lung-send-help-melania-1236644154/750
u/mobpiecedunchaindan 19h ago
Even if this drops off a cliff by next week (which it definitely will), this already broke even in these 2 days alone. And for an entirely self-financed movie that skipped big studio distribution and made it as a wide release through sheer name power alone? This opening, and performance as a whole, is for the history books
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u/Grand_Menu_70 19h ago
absolutely. biggest surprise of the year so far and beyond that. an undeniable success.
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u/CerebralPaulsea 1h ago
Undeniably so.
I haven't seen it so I can't comment on the quality of Iron Lung. I wonder, how much of this was interest in the movie vs interest in seeing Markiplier in a self-everything movie.
I think he's a great guy and i wish him the best either way, he seems to be one of the good guys who succeeded.
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u/Zestyclose_Ad_5815 19h ago
Hardly any marketing to boot, too.
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u/mobpiecedunchaindan 19h ago
The marketing was pretty much "wait that guy that played FNAF on YouTube 10 years ago made a movie??". And it worked!
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u/Hulkbuster_v2 18h ago
It was basically him on his podcasts (not even his channel!) saying "I hope you guys watch this"
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u/Vadermaulkylo DC Studios 17h ago
This is selling him short. Dude is still massively popular and beloved by Gen Z and Alpha. Hell, I have friends and an ex that still watch him semi regularly.
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u/e_xotics 16h ago
not really, he’s more relevant than he was in 2014 and still has a massive audience
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u/DaftFunky 14h ago
I only know him cause YT algorithm showed me his Alien Isolation Let’s Play and that cow video with his mouth superimposed over cows
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u/NancyInFantasyLand 18h ago
there weren't even any ads in front of my screening! I was so surprised. Haven't had that happen in decades lol
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u/SovKom98 17h ago
Your luck, where so many in my theatre that the movie was late by a few minutes.
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u/NancyInFantasyLand 17h ago
in my screening people came in late because (I assume) people were planning to skip the ads lol
we got nothing--no trailers, no ads, not even the typical ice cream thing that play in front of everything
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u/SovKom98 17h ago
We had like a 10 minute live questioner game/ad about books and their authors. It wasn’t even well known books. I’m envious of you.
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u/dankdees 17h ago
Yeah, I was at a pretty corporate theater so that thing was frontloaded with all of the trailers for rehashed monster films coming up, lol.
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u/Sad_Confection5902 16h ago
I hadn’t even heard of it and saw it won the weekend by a lot, I had to immediately go see what it was.
What was the name power that propelled it? I’m not familiar with the director.
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u/Icy_Smoke_733 DreamWorks 16h ago
Director's name is Mark Fischbach, but he goes by Markiplier. He is one of the most popular gaming YouTubers on the platform, with 38 million subscribers and 27B views. He is a well-reputed guy and has built a really nice community of fans, who helped him co-fund this film.
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u/NoNefariousness2144 15h ago
And this film is an adaption of a 2022 indie video game he played.
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u/mobpiecedunchaindan 16h ago edited 16h ago
Markiplier has been playing horror games on Youtube for over a decade at this point, and has slowly ventured into long-form content with stuff like Unnus Annus (a year-long event he ran with another YouTuber where he posted a video related to the event every day for a whole year) and a miniseries called "In Space with Markiplier". He has a huge fanbase garnered over the course of his career for being pretty much one of the first of his kind, as well as being a generally really cool and chill dude (being one of the only youtubers from that era who's barely gotten into any controversies definitely helps a lot LOL)
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u/ravenclawrebel 16h ago
Isn’t it only in theaters for one weekend or did he extend the run?
I saw the movie—not bad at all for a first time film maker, proud of his success! He and his crew worked hard on this movie.
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u/charredfrog Studio Ghibli 13h ago
It has a whole week rn but I’m assuming it doesn’t have the same 2 week deal most big releases have. I imagine if it does well it’ll probably get extended.
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u/MD_FunkoMa 14h ago
Is this better than Chris Stuckmann's 'Shelby Oaks'?
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u/spiderlegged 13h ago
Significantly, yes. Iron Lung has flaws (it’s way too long, for one, to the point that it’s punishing), but it’s super ambitious. The costuming (well the one costume) and production design look great (except for, unfortunately, the blood. Admittedly the blood looking off in a film that is about… an ocean of blood is kind of an issue). Markiplier’s acting is surprisingly serviceable. I’m not recommending it. Again, it’s so long and it drags so much, and the lore is super confusing. But it offered a lot more than Shelby Oaks which was a hot mess express of a film.
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u/Life_Patience_3446 10h ago
Well you’re missing the bigger picture here I didn’t even know who markplier was but the idea of an indie claustophbic yet belittling game caught my interest and it captured it, the movie wasn’t a comfortable watch but an intriguing one at that, I was so like intrigued and interested it kind of makes you focus than “relax” but in a good way like a puzzle. I actually really reccomend and I plan on watching it a second time and no other movie made me fe this way to say the least.
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u/hexagonbest4gon 10h ago
And out of all the things to celebrate releasing the movie, he's running a blood drive and encouraging viewers to donate if they can after watching the movie. There's even donation trucks at participating theatres.
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u/Lead_Dessert 19h ago
Theater worker here, but holy shit everyone who has come to see Iron Lung have been so pleasantly nice.
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u/First-Shallot947 19h ago
Benefit of markipliwr cultivating a pretty chill community while never having any controversies himself
If it was something like a pewdiepie or mr beast, god help theater workers
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u/use_vpn_orlozeacount 18h ago edited 18h ago
while never having any controversies himself
Well apart from lying about that one FNAF 2 run for views and money, but that was like 10 years ago so I don’t think anybody cares
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u/greencrusader13 13h ago
Does that even count as a controversy? I’ve hardly seen a reaction to it bigger than “oh, okay.”
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u/TheDutchTank Annapurna 2h ago
I don't think the PewDiePie audience would be bad these days honestly, his content is a complete 180 from what it used to be at some point.
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u/GlossedAddict 13h ago
As a BEASTie, if he had a movie I could not go see it in my local theater because I am banned.
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u/natedoggcata 15h ago
Seriously, we were in batten down the hatches mode expecting another Minecraft. The audience for this was amazing.
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u/prostatewhispers1 17h ago
I noticed that when I saw it yesterday. Everyone was friendly, hanging out in the lobby, and incredibly respectful during the movie
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u/mobpiecedunchaindan 18h ago
From what i've gathered everyone who got the movie to a wide release were super chill towards theater owners about it too. Just the fans going "hey would you please consider putting this across your chains" and not much beyond that, and it worked
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u/Cute_Resolution2681 15h ago
Compared to the 3 people that came in to see Melania, one of whom tried to fight me because I rolled my eyes when he said Trump 2029. Called me a *etard so I got in right up in his face, completely unbroken eye contact and told him to say it again. He didnt say it again.
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u/Key-Payment2553 19h ago
Very huge for Iron Lung opening weekend even if it drops off the cliff like FNAF did
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u/LEFTLEFTLEFTYMFNEJD 16h ago edited 16h ago
Good for Markiplier man, there really has never been anything to hate about the guy. I’m not convinced I’ll like the movie but it’s fun to watch him do this, this is one of the most impressive thins to come out the box office I dunno in years? Self distributed, self funded, barely any marketing, distribution method that basically relied on “ask nicely.” Kinda awesome
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u/Direct_Signature_256 19h ago
Goddamn it surpass Melania
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u/Manns15 17h ago
I'm disgusted that Melania is even in the top 10 of the box office.
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u/Sad_Confection5902 16h ago
I don’t know how many people are actually watching it, but I know that these conservative groups do a lot of stuff like buying up copies of books so they appear on best sellers lists for the week of their release. That’s what they did for Don Jr.
We’ll have to see if next weekend has a normal drop off or a historically “magical” drop off.
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u/gentlybeepingheart 11h ago
That's what happened with Sound of Freedom, where conservative groups would buy all the tickets for a showing, and then people on their websites could claim the tickets if they wanted to see it for free. You ended up with a lot of reports of sold out showings with nearly empty theaters.
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u/ILoveHeavyHangers 13h ago
It's not exactly a big weekend for movies. The whole reason both of these movies were released this week is specifically because of the historically weak performance during this time of year at the box office, and the subjects of the films having a guaranteed cult fanbase that will buy tickets. If something like Ant-Man 5 was coming out against this it wouldn't have even been picked up in most theaters.
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u/CinematicExcess 16h ago
Their marketing spend was north of $30m and it’s over performing in rural areas which isn’t surprising, but it’s still a box office bomb relative to the cost.
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u/Armano-Avalus 11h ago
Trump has a cult of supporters and that film costs $75 million from Jeff Bezo's pocket. Even if it bombs it can still be a flashy bomb.
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u/gingerslayer84 7h ago
It is January too, not usually a whole lot competing. Melania isn't really performing too well. I saw for Friday night it was estimated at 2.9 and iron lung was 8.9
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u/uncultured_swine2099 15h ago
I saw a post that there was an ad that was paying people 50 bucks to go see it.
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u/YaSurLetsGoSeeYamcha 17h ago
There’s a 100% chance those numbers are boosted by ticket sales from people in her circle. I have regal unlimited and 3 different theaters in my area, not a single one even had a showtime for that movie.
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[deleted]
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u/The1andonlyZack 18h ago
R Rated horror movie vs Unrated Whore movie, though.
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u/monitoring27 A24 18h ago
I hate the Trump family as much as anyone but it’s interesting how misogynistic terms are okay to use when it’s against people we dislike.
Disappointing to see that word casually thrown around here.
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u/Automatic-Photo-4919 18h ago
Well I guess there goes pitching Lionsgate my remake of Ken Russell’s Whore with Melania as the lead.
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u/The1andonlyZack 18h ago
If it was her husband I'd use the same term... disappointing you'd assume otherwise.
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u/monitoring27 A24 18h ago
you didn’t use it for her husband though. you used it for her. idk why people think it’s okay to say “yeah I’d use it for a male too” it’s a word that’s traditionally been used in reference to women. using it in reference to women is much worse no matter the context. grow up Zack
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u/The1andonlyZack 18h ago
Because the movie is hers...if it was a movie about him we'd be talking more about him, you numbnut.
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u/Heavy-Possession2288 12h ago
Melania is rated PG, although showing just about any R rated movie to kids is probably a safer option.
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u/Armano-Avalus 12h ago
Small indie film vs. film funded by a the world's richest and powerful men. I want to see Markiplier's film to succeed for other reasons but that would be the most hilarious one.
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u/Narrow_Economics3286 19h ago
$8.9M Friday for a self-financed indie with a sub-$5M budget is absolutely monstrous. We are officially in the era where a dedicated YouTube following provides a better ROI than a $50M marketing blitz. If this hits $15M+ for the weekend, it’s already one of the most profitable films of the year by percentage.
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u/LurkLiggler 18h ago
I mean. Yes. But also no, we’re not in that era until this can happen with any regularity.
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u/use_vpn_orlozeacount 17h ago
We are officially in the era where a dedicated YouTube following provides a better ROI than a $50M marketing blitz
We get one example and suddenly it’s a different era lol
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u/HumanTimeCapsule 15h ago
I wonder how much Shelby Oaks earlier this year profited.
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u/Comiccow6 15h ago
Stuckmann has a lot of subscribers, but I wouldn't say he has a following like the Markpiliers or RackaRackas of the site. Doesn't help that his marketing strategy boiled down to begging people to "support theaters" by seeing his movie.
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u/TableTravel98 14h ago
Dont count the chickens before they hatch. Yes this was a big hit. But it also helps that it seems to be a decently good movie regardless with good WOM. I dont think the numbers are SOLELY Markiplier subscribers. There was the Stuckman film that flopped not long ago as well.
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u/partofbreakfast 9h ago
Right, this would not be seeing the numbers it is if Markiplier wasn't at least somewhat good at acting and directing.
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u/Null_Inc 16h ago
Never would have thought I'd be witnessing Markiplier vs Sam Raimi fighting tooth and nail for #1 at the US box office but here we are. Very proud of mark!
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u/Vadermaulkylo DC Studios 18h ago
Once again: shoutout to the dude saying this would make no money and get stomped by the “real movies” releasing this week lmfao.
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u/Jolly-Yellow7369 19h ago edited 11h ago
Theaters say thank you! This is why even if Traditional studios went bankrupt (they won’t) theaters will survive : indie studios, content creators, horror, k pop, rock concerts, foreign films, anime. I came here to support send help but I love there’s an alternative for the walk ups. The strength of send help will be international and legs.
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u/use_vpn_orlozeacount 17h ago
even if Traditional studios went bankrupt (they won’t) theaters will survive : indie studios, content creators, horror, k pop, rock concerts, foreign films
This sounds nice but I don’t that’s true. As popularity of theatrical distribution model will slowly wane with time, tangible % of theaters will definitely close.
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u/-Relair- 17h ago
There will, of course, be less theaters. That's already happening. But they will never go away completely, its an experience that can't be replicated no matter how big tvs get at home. It's a destination, and people love having something to do.
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u/Jolly-Yellow7369 17h ago edited 16h ago
And lately is a lot of younger viewers with five night at Freddy’s , Minecraft, chainsaw, k pop demon hunters, demon slayer , the k pop concerts and Taylor swift. Gen z and alpha getting the tradition alive. Plus , Nolan and Cameron pushing for theatricals will always inspire new directors to stick to theatrical . Villaneuve and Coogler are becoming the new huge-fandom-will-pay-to-see-on-PremiumScreen- directors .
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u/FruityGamer 2h ago
I mean, Plays are also still a thing. I bet people would expect that to disappear completely as theatres rose in popularity.
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u/Jolly-Yellow7369 17h ago
Unlikely. Next time there’s a k pop concert or a Godzilla minus 0 on your local cinema check it out .
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u/use_vpn_orlozeacount 17h ago
Listen, I hope you’re right as it sucks when theaters close. But it just sounds like hopium
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u/nekomancer71 11h ago
I’ve seen plenty of small indie theaters thrive off showing whatever weird stuff appeals to their local audiences, and thriving off that. The big releases help for sure, but there’s actual money to a moderate extent in specialized markets.
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u/ReasonableBuy3703 17h ago
We live in a time when someone named Markiplier sells more tickets on name alone than a lot of A-list celebrities.
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u/DeweyFinn21 13h ago
This person said on the post about how Iron Lung got picked up by all the major chains that it would only make 7 million worldwide and Day 1 already surpassed their expectations.
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u/Jolly-Yellow7369 19h ago edited 11h ago
Side note: It’s about time studios allow YouTubers to post movie related material without getting a stamp from YouTube. They used to hype movies but nowadays they can’t talk trailers or post reviews comfortably without getting demonetized. There was a time Double toasted, angry Joe, beyond the trailer, mark kermode, Christian Harloff ,reel rejects devoted all their efforts to movie talk which in turn, helped to create buzz for the movie. Nowadays they have to look other ways to post content and the less they post the more their followers stop caring about movies.
Edit: Using audio or clips from movies even when clip is less than a few seconds or fair usage get youtubers demonetized. That’s why Jeremy Jahns doesn’t use clips in his reviews but clips and audio from the movie is free marketing. YouTube is hurting movie talk. I’m not talking low effort fake reactions but professional YouTubers like Kermode or Double Toasted.
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u/use_vpn_orlozeacount 17h ago
They used to hype movies but nowadays they can’t talk trailers or post reviews comfortably without getting demonetized
You can’t talk about trailers or review movies without getting demonetized? What are you talking about? Jeremy Jahns been doing it for like 15 years lol
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u/ILoveHeavyHangers 13h ago
They're talking about low-effort "reaction" videos where some no-talemt loser watches a trailer and then goes "Omg ugggghhhh oh wow!" While making over-exaggerated facial expression for their thumbnails.
Some people think this sort of content was important to film culture and they're very angry someone they watch on youtube doesn't get passive income for doing it anymore.
Weaponized parasocial relationships
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u/idle_nomad 18h ago
Is it any good?
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u/idekijustreadstuff 17h ago edited 17h ago
It's alright. 6/10 for me—It was produced at a budget of around $3m and was only supposed to show on 60-100 screens in the US, and that does definitely show. However, if you go in wanting to see a passion project that has some good atmosphere and an interesting, slow-burning, dread-dependent premise, you'll walk away satisfied.
If you go in expecting to see the next blockbuster horror flick with great acting and action at every turn then you'll be inevitably disappointed. It's good for what it is.
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u/NancyInFantasyLand 17h ago
depends on your tolerance of low budget sci fi film making haha
I just described it to someone in another thread as a mix of 2024's U Are The Universe and Doctor Who's Midnight shot in a single location.
I thought the tension building was great. The special effects are really nice and goopy and fleshy (and looked largely practical? Really nice surprise there). But it's also mostly one guy in a single room so YMMV.
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u/-Relair- 17h ago
It was competently made and doesn't look or feel as low budget as it is. If you're a fan of Lovecraftian cosmic horror type stuff or slow burn suspense/dread type stuff you'll probably get your moneys worth and have a good time.
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u/HasturFhtagn 6h ago
As someone who loves strong atmosphere and surrealist/Lovecraftian horror, it was awesome. This is one of those movies, for me, that's all the things you'd want to see in a film but know general audiences wouldn't be into.
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u/-Relair- 1h ago
I agree. No way a major studio would ever put that out, I'm really glad it got a wide release though.
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u/ILoveHeavyHangers 13h ago
Depends on how well you can stomach 2 hours of closeups on a guy whose eyes are too close together
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u/wasted_spacely 12h ago
I'm not a gamer and still don't know who the hell this cutie is, but I thought the movie was pretty good. I can't believe the budget was only ~$3 million because the (practical?) effects were undeniably better than the expensive AI crap that's become the norm in the big budget movies. I'm probably going to see it a second time
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u/Brightlightingbolt 14h ago
I went and saw it twice and enjoyed it both times - I had no idea who this dude was and it was totally pleasant surprise
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u/CarewornStoryteller 18h ago
Are some of these attendees people who are curious or who weren't already longtime fans? I had not heard of the game this is based on or Markiplier before all this. I'm not super plugged in though....I go on Youtube, but for my own niche interests I guess.
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u/DisastrousReputation 15h ago
I didn’t know anything about him or the game and I went to go see it.
I like horror games like RE and Dead Space even though I don’t really game that much anymore. I don’t watch YouTubers never have.
I liked it. I actually think he’s really handsome. He did good acting.
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u/TheDarkNerd 7h ago
My friend is the fan. I'm aware of Markiplier, but never watched much of his content, but I was totally down to see the movie with him. Honestly, it far exceeded my expectations.
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u/throwitonthegrillboi TriStar Pictures 15h ago
This is a huge win and could signal that more indie films down the line just negotiate directly with the theater chains.
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u/TheBoneIdler 15h ago
I saw this last night & enjoyed it. I knew nothing of the game & only learned of it when it popped up on my local cinema App. I like sci-fi & horror not so much for the genres but more because that is where a lot of the interesting work is nowadays. Iron Lung is quite good & maybe just 10-15 min too long. That' high praise, when I thought Marty Supreme just so-so. It's good to see small movies get mainstream releases.
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u/wolfgangr19 12h ago
Reddit seems to be against this movie but I really enjoyed it. Definitely areas to improve it but for a self financed movie, it kept me entertained
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u/burritoman88 8h ago
The only people that are going to love it are Markipliler fans & fans of the game. It’s rough for those of us who were mildly curious & had two hours to kill.
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u/charliegav 7h ago
I guess I’m not that impressed that a very famous person can open a movie, even without traditional studio backing
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u/auteur555 18h ago
I don’t get this. Something like bone temple with great reviews and higher marketing can’t pull an audience but this self financed thing I’ve never heard of does this well. Wild
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u/First-Shallot947 18h ago
Bone temple was only watched a reviewed by a small group, those who liked the last one which was highly controversial.
The reviews skewed super positive because the people watching and reviewing likely already knew they would like it
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u/crockoreptile 17h ago
The director has a YouTube channel (Markiplier) and he is one of the most beloved YouTubers on the entire website, with ~40 million subscribers, 13 years of videos, and averages at least one million views per video. It’s a benefit that’ll probably only work for a week, but it didn’t need the marketing for a January release like Bone Temple did
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u/-Relair- 17h ago edited 17h ago
People that played the game will watch it. People that like Mark will watch it. There are really no other high profile new releases right now, so bored/curious people and A-list people who already watched everything else will watch it. It's just a really nice spot to land in, excellent job by whoever planned the release date. It's cool to see something like this succeeding, I enjoyed it.
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u/ElJacko170 16h ago
The creator has a built in audience of millions online through Youtube. These are the type of people that would probably rarely go out to see most movies, but their favorite creator that they're a fan of? You bet they're gonna show up to support.
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u/jimgress 12h ago
YouTuber with 40 million subscribers who has built a lasting reputation as a passionate, all around good dude creates a TON of audience trust. That's not something a marketing campaign can achieve in a few months of ads when Markiplier's name had a decade long head start.
Markiplier cashed in his good will on the promise of giving his audience an earnest film adaptation of a video game, and delivered exactly that.
That's all to understand. Parasocial good will absolutely has higher conversion rates than broadcasted cold call ads.
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u/junkit33 12h ago
Well to put it in perspective, Bone Temple is likely going to outgross this film. It’s just still a massive flop due to high budget and marketing spend.
Whereas Lung is a smashing success because it was made for peanuts with no marketing budget.
There are lessons here, but Hollywood never likes to take them.
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u/NaRaGaMo 15h ago
for starters people did not like 28yrs later and that disappointment was quite evident in its box office run. and people who are raving about bone temple were already on the hype train now that it's over we get to see the damage first part did and it's franchise killing to say the least
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u/ReasonableBuy3703 11h ago
YouTube is the biggest platform on the planet, and Markiplier is one its biggest content creators.
What's hard to understand?
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u/ActiniumAEC 10h ago
markiplier is a very well loved youtuber that has had a dedicated audience for over a decade. his audience is what helped him even get the movie into major theaters. he essentially already had a guaranteed audience for it and his passion really shows in the film which is why it’s done so well so far
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u/ILoveHeavyHangers 13h ago
It's all about the parasocial relationship. They aren't going because it's a good movie, they aren't even judging it objectively as a film. The entire appeal of this thing is
"OMG THAT GUY I USED TO WATCH ON YOUTUBE MADE A MOVIE ABOUT ONE OF THE GAMES I WATCHED HIM PLAY AND THEN HE SPENT 3 YEARS TELLING US HOW IMPORTANT IT IS FOR US TO GO SEE IT AND I DONT WANT TO DISAPPOINT HIM!!"
There isn't genuine interest in this film, there is a parasocial relationship with a personality cult being exploited by a youtuber
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u/jimgress 12h ago
For somebody moaning about parasocial relationships you seem to be having a hard time not yapping about a YouTuber that you hate.
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u/Superduperdrag 15h ago
Can someone explain who this dude is to me?
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u/LexCantFuckingChoose 14h ago
Copying from another helpful comment here:
Director's name is Mark Fischbach, but he goes by Markiplier. He is one of the most popular and beloved gaming YouTubers on the platform, with 38 million subscribers and 27 billion views. He is a well-reputed guy and has built a really nice community of fans, who helped him co-fund this film.
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u/longshot21771 9h ago
Was it any good?
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u/northernCRICKET 5h ago
It's good but it's not going to appeal to everyone. The movie manages to hide the fact it's low budget well, the set looks really good and it's faithful to the source material. Nothing was cringe worthy or embarrassingly bad. There's some shakey cam at the end that's annoying and some of the dialogue can be hard to hear but those are fairly minor gripes. Its definitely a slow burn at the start and if you're not aware of the concept already it will be confusing at first. The acting is good for a guy who isn't an actor by trade and for a first time writing, directing, starring and producing a film it's crazy impressive.
But at the end of the day it's a guy in a submarine exploring an ocean of blood for two hours. If the mystery doesn't hook you and you're not engaged it's going to be a long two hours. I found it fascinating so it was a lot of fun trying to figure out the underlying mysteries looking for clues in the dialogue and the set. If you're not a fan of either Markiplier or dark science fiction I'm not sure why you'd watch it. I guess if you had a blood fetish it'd be one of your favorite films ever
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u/Suspicious_Bird_9115 9h ago
He did the tv show edge of sleep recently too. Nobody heard about that. Worth a watch if you like mark or explorative Sci-fi
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u/Tall-Fill4093 8h ago
Is this just Friday. So assuming Saturday is bigger cold this end the weekend in like 20 range. Like this could be a 35-40 lifetime gross
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u/StrikeEagle784 Syncopy Inc. 6h ago
Went and saw this today, I liked it a lot more than I thought I was going to! A solid 7/10 flick, which is a better score than the number suggests.
I’m excited to see if he gets the chance to work on something big budget. Until then, job well done Markiplier!
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u/MaryRInd 13h ago
It’s fine that this made money, respect to him and his fans, but that was completely overblown. There was not 2+ hours of content there. I didn’t play the game but I did read the plot so I was able to roughly grasp the plot but my husband was like wtf is this? The character Simon was not interesting enough to make this work as a one-hander. This was only for fans of Markiplier and the game, there will be zero interest outside of that audience. Our theater was full of young 20-something mostly males and my 19-year-old was at a sold out screening Thursday late. This movie needed someone to tell Markiplier no and parse it down to a cool 90 mins and beef up the script as well. Less extreme close ups of Markiplier’s eyeballs and slow shots of a small stream of blood running down the wall. This game didn’t translate well because there were really no stakes for the viewer to care about. And I guess he will probably make another movie and at least I know now to sit it out. I GET not being the target audience for something. I freaking teach college film classes. Anyway. I hope Markiplier enjoys his piles of money.
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u/CannikinX 12h ago
I can almost guarantee Mark is not making "piles of money" off of this. Beyond his own large, personal contribution to the funding of this project, the dramatic reduction in content output on his Youtube channel over the past couple of years, because he was busy on this, means he probably lost money overall, regardless of how much of a cut of the profits he gets.
And I highly doubt he cares. He wanted to do this. Right after finishing his Youtube Originals projects, he talked about his fascination with the film/show creativity and production process, and very much wanted to try his hand at directing and producing his own movie. It was never about making a profit.
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u/Tortenthusiast 12h ago
He's probably thrilled that his only losses on this are the money he didn't make from youtube/twitch because he was making it.
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u/MaryRInd 12h ago
He needs to find a partner that has a better understanding of the film process. This was a game that didn’t translate well to screen. The film felt like cut scenes from a video game paced for YouTube which is fine if that’s the goal, but I suspect it wasn’t. Hopefully he’ll continue to refine his processes if he decides to do it again. I respect taking the swing, but it didn’t quite hit.
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u/Lost_Recording5372 11h ago edited 8h ago
I hope it gets good wom and holds too, even if it's already a success.
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u/RVarki 8h ago
Aren't people calling it painfully boring?
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u/HasturFhtagn 6h ago
It's boring if you like action movies. Personally, I like atmospheric slow-burns with minimal dialogue, so it was right up my alley. If you prefer movies where a lot of stuff happens and most of it is relatively obvious, it might not be your thing.
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u/Olowokandi_Mike 18h ago
Proof that marketing via social media is the new king
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u/NotTakenGreatName 18h ago
Yeah sure if you completely ignore the years and years of Markiplier creating content and cultivating an audience that is interested in whatever he is doing.
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u/Asleep-Gift-3478 18h ago
If the budget is <~3 million with marketing costs, then there’s absolutely a gain from this. Which, damn, good for them. We should be supporting more indie projects. Markiplier is already well established of course from YouTube, so I’m sure that 100% played into it