Famous YouTuber Markiplier wrote, directed, and acted in a new horror movie, “Iron Lung,” in collaboration with David Szymanski, creator of the indie horror game the movie is based on.
In a post-apocalyptic world, Markiplier’s character is tasked with exploring a blood ocean with only a submarine. He must navigate this new territory among whatever lurks in the depths.
The game “Iron Lung” was released in 2022. Markiplier released a playthrough video of the game on YouTube shortly after. Since his playthrough, he has worked closely with Szymanski and a small production team to develop a movie following the plot of the game. The movie was released internationally on January 30. Originally, the film was to be released in 60 theaters across the United States. But due to high demand from fans requesting their local theaters to show the movie, it’s now in over 4,000 theaters internationally, some of which sold out opening weekend.
As of now, the movie has grossed $34.9 million worldwide, and the cost of production was $3 million, funded by Markiplier himself.
Longtime Markiplier fans know that this isn’t his first experience with movie production. Aside from small acting roles in TV shows and video games, Markiplier has made other similar projects released on YouTube over the years, such as “A Heist with Markiplier” in 2019 and “In Space with Markiplier” in 2022. These are comedic choose-your-own-adventure style YouTube videos with extensive and ambitious productions.
I have followed Markiplier for at least a decade, so, like many of his fans, I was excited to see his movie in theaters.
I was extremely impressed with his effort, the production quality, and the engaging story he wrote on top of the existing lore from the Iron Lung game. The movie is more on the psychological and body horror side than typical “jump-scare” horror movies. So, unless you have a weak stomach for blood and gore, or don’t appreciate horror in general, I recommend this movie. I also recommend watching Markiplier’s playthroughs of the game before watching the movie, so you can have a basis of understanding for the plot, because the movie can be confusing at times without background knowledge.
It’s refreshing to see movies in theaters without huge franchises behind them, proving that the film industry doesn’t need to be owned by the same few companies producing movie after movie just to make money. Passion projects from independent moviemakers can also succeed on a global scale and bring together huge communities.
Two major movies were released on the same day as Iron Lung: Melania and Send Help.
Melania is a documentary following Melania Trump and has grossed around $16 million despite costing around $75 million, and reviews have been overwhelmingly negative.
In contrast, the new Sam Raimi horror/thriller movie Send Help starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien has grossed $56 million worldwide with production costs of $40 million.
Of course, Markiplier has a fanbase on YouTube of over 38 million subscribers, so he has far more reach than almost all content creators and online personalities. But it’s still amazing to see his following, who normally watch his gaming videos online, pour into theaters across the world to see his hard work over the last three years pay off. It’s a beautiful testament to online communities supporting their favorite creators and how much of an impact a dedicated fanbase can have.