Not only is the new documentary Melania a big box office flop, but it was trumped by an unexpected victor – an independently financed horror film made by a YouTuber.
The documentary about First Lady Melania Trump might have exceeded predictions on its opening day, grossing $2.9m from 1,778 cinemas, but this is a far cry from the reported $70m Amazon paid to buy and distribute the film.
Instead, the big success story was Iron Lung, a new film directed by Mark Fischbach, better known as the popular YouTuber Markiplier. Inspired by the 2022 horror game created by David Szymanski, Iron Lung was made for $3m and has made $21m to date,
Impressively, the film also reigned supreme over Sam Raimi’s new horror comedy Send Help, starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien.
In a live stream addressing the film’s unexpected box office triumph, Markiplier said he doesn’t “give a s*** about the numbers”, but wants the film to become a success so he can bring it to festivals around the world.
Iron Lung is set in the aftermath of the Quiet Rapture, an event in which multiple star systems and planets disappear without warning, leaving a handful of humans alive. The film follows a convict named Simon as he pilots a submarine through a moon’s ocean of blood.
The film was originally meant to be released in 60 US theatres, but fan demand saw it picked up internationally, and its now showing in more than 4,000 theatres in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
Despite Iron Lung’s box office victory, reviews have not been positive, with the film amassing 44 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the audience score is almost double this, sitting at 89 per cent.
Similarly, since the release of Melania, critics’ reviews have been overwhelmingly negative, with the film achieving a measly six per cent on the platform. Positive audience reviews have caused the film to reach an audience score of 99 per cent – in an apparent demonstration of support for Trump.
In a one-star review for The Independent, Nick Hilton wrote: “Perhaps Melania is merely a piece of post-modern post-entertainment. After all, it is transparently not a documentary.”
Hilton continues: “Melania spends most scenes playing a staged version of herself, and shots of the first lady are composed with all the deliberateness Ratner brought to his work on X-Men: The Last Stand. This is somewhere between reality TV and pure fiction.”
Melania was released on the same day in the UK as it was in the US, but failed to crack the top 15 at the box office. Iron Lung is in cinemas now.
