While we usually have eyes on big blockbusters or high-profile actors when it comes to the weekend box office, this week, we should be keeping an eye on one film in particular, Iron Lung.
If you haven’t heard of it, that may be no great surprise. It features no big Hollywood names, and it has not had a media-blanketing marketing campaign. But early signs indicate that it may turn quite a profit for the man who made it, iconic YouTuber Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach.
A historically popular content creator, one from the early days of even the concept of YouTubers itself, Markiplier has brought this horror passion project to life, directing, starring in and co-writing the feature. The bigger name he’s attached to the project is Troy Baker, a famed video game performer whose roles span from Death Stranding to Indiana Jones to playing Joel in The Last of Us 1 and 2. Here, he’s in live-action, joining Markiplier on this intergalactic horror adventure. Here’s the synopsis:
“The stars are gone. The planets have disappeared. Only individuals aboard space stations or starships were left to give the end a name — The Quiet Rapture. After decades of decay and crumbling infrastructure, the Consolidation of Iron has made a discovery on a barren moon designated AT-5. An ocean of blood. Hoping to discover desperately needed resources they immediately launch an expedition. A submarine is crafted and a convict is welded inside. Due to the pressure and depth of the ocean the forward viewport has been encased in metal. If successful, they will earn their freedom. If not, another will follow. This will be the 13th expedition.”
And the trailer:
The movie is out…today, and mainstream buzz about it is quiet. This may seem like something that would only be launching in a handful of theaters, but it’s on 2,500 screens, with potential plans for expansions. “High demand” elevated it from a limited release to a sprawling feature. This is a guy who has 38 million YouTube subscribers, after all.
We don’t know the film’s budget, but it was entirely self-financed by Markiplier himself meaning it can’t be that high. An appetite for original horror plus Markiplier’s vast fanbase implies this could end up doing quite well, and I’m reminded of something like Five Nights at Freddy’s blowing past all expectations. No, it won’t get close to those numbers, but depending on its cost, plus a limited marketing campaign, it’s easy to see how this could work out well for him.
There are just two official reviews in for the movie right now, showing just how much critics are glossing over it, but they’re both positive (hooray, temporary 100% Rotten Tomatoes score). Fans, so far, are not disappointed with a 93% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes instead. On IMDB, practically every user review right now is positive.
While few are, everyone should definitely be keeping an eye on Iron Lung. Some early projections put it at potentially $10-15 million for the weekend. That would put it above the movie that won the previous weekend, the terribly-reviewed Mercy, which was #1 with $10.8 million. It is, however, unlikely to win this time around with another big horror film, Send Help, arriving. Plus, there’s Shelter with Jason Statham, where the action star always turns in solid popcorn flicks, even if 80% of them are roughly the same movie.
Still, I have a hunch this is going to be big, at least in the context of how it came to life.
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