3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Feb 5, 2026 08:51 PM IST
Melania, the documentary about US First Lady Melania Trump, is finally out for the world to see, but it is having a hard time at the box office. The makers of the film, Amazon MGM, have claimed that the film has earned $7 million on its opening weekend, but the scathing reviews tell a different story. Amid all this, a dark horse has emerged and has added to Melania’s box office problems, and that dark horse is Mark Fischbach’s horror film, Iron Lung.
Mark, better known by his YouTube username Markiplier, is a star of the platform who has amassed over 38.2 million subscribers. His independently funded film earned a whopping $18.19 million at the box office during its opening weekend. The film has been made on a reported budget of $3 million, which means that he has already earned 6 times his investment. The film even made it to the number one spot in the US and battled it out with Sam Raimi’s film Send Help.
The budget of Iron Lungs and the kind of love that the story has received are quite commendable, considering Markiplier started his YouTube channel after going through the most difficult passage of his life. During his final year of college, he went through a breakup, learnt that he had a tumour in his adrenal gland, got fired from his job, and was kicked out of his home by his mother. He just started playing horror games and putting the videos on YouTube, and now, millions of subscribers later, his film is duking it out with the big bad wolves of the box office.
Melania has been made on a $75 million budget, according to reports by The Guardian and The New York Times. Which means that Iron Lung was made on just 4% of that, and if Amazon’s numbers are to be considered, Iron Lung has earned almost thrice what Melania made. In a recent post on Instagram, Markiplier thanked his fans and wrote, “Whatever happens, wherever it lands, this has been the most fun weekend I’ve had in a very long time. Thank you everyone so much for taking the time to watch Iron Lung!”
