YouTuber Markiplier's Feature Film Debut Quadrupled Its Budget in 24 Hours

YouTuber Markiplier's debut feature stormed the North American box office this weekend, quadrupling its budget in just 24 hours and nearly toppling Sam Raimi's star-studded comeback vehicle Send Help from the top spot.

Iron Lung Nearly Sinks the Competition

Iron Lung, the debut feature of YouTuber Mark Edward Fishbach, better known as Markiplier, opened at 3,015 locations last weekend and came in second place, grossing $17.8 million over the three-day weekend. That’s a pretty amazing figure for an indie horror movie that didn’t have much of a marketing budget and was made for under $3 million. A handful of well-placed online adverts no doubt captured Markiplier’s core audience; but the inflated number surprised industry analysts, who had predicted a more subdued opening under $10 million.

On Friday alone, the film grossed nearly $9 million and quadrupled its tiny budget. Iron Lung stars Fishbach as a convict who is sent to a remote planet to scavenge for natural resources after an apocalyptic event. It was top of the box office until Sunday afternoon, when final numbers confirmed that Send Help took the number one spot, but only by a hair.

Send Help Is Sam Raimi's Long-Awaited Comeback

Raimi’s gory survival thriller topped the weekend with a healthy cume of $20 million against its $40 million budget. Send Help has been praised by critics and fans alike as a return to the Evil Dead director’s roots, with many calling it the purest Raimi movie since 2009’s Drag Me To Hell. In the intervening 17 years, Raimi made only two films—Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)—both of which were family-friendly studio pictures. It's also the first R-rated picture from Raimi since The Gift back in 2000; and his first R-rated horror movie since 1992's Evil Dead sequel Army of Darkness.

Send Help marks a return to his blood-and-vomit-covered origins, and it should have no trouble turning a substantial theatrical profit once it opens in international markets next weekend. Strong word of mouth indicates it will stick around in North American cinemas through February.

Jason Statham's Shelter Bombed

In third place was Amazon’s $75-million Melania Trump documentary, Melania. The movie defied expectations and notched the highest opening for a documentary in three years, since Angel Studios’ After Death, which opened to $5 million in 2023. Older white and Latino women comprised the core audience. The documentary is the first project from director Brett Ratner since he was accused of sexual misconduct in 2017.

Fifth place went to Jason Statham’s new action flick, Shelter. It took $5.5 million against its $50 million budget for an underwhelming star. Avatar: Fire and Ash fell to sixth place, while Chris Pratt’s goofy sci-fi Mercy fell from first to seventh place. Surprise holiday hits The Housemaid andMarty Supreme took eighth and ninth place, respectively, while 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple rounded out the top 10.

Despite rave reviews and a franchise-best Rotten Tomatoes score, The Bone Temple has grossed only $23.6 million since its release nearly three weeks ago. That’s substantially less than the $30 million its predecessor, 28 Years Later, took in its first weekend last June. Industry analysts contend that it was just too soon for audiences to be excited about a follow-up. A third installment has already been confirmed by Sony, though it has yet to be dated.