Iron Lung, the feature-length video game adaptation written and directed by YouTuber Markiplier, is killing it at the global box office. Having originally been scheduled to show in just 60 theaters across the US, the creator's fans rallied together to request more screenings, which led to the movie, which reportedly cost $3 million to make, appearing in 4,161 cinemas internationally – and raking in a whopping $47 million so far.
Now, in a new interview with BBC's Newsbeat, Markiplier, whose real name is Mark Edward Fischbach, described its success as "a win for YouTubers". He went on: "The more that this happens the more normalized it becomes."
As part of Newsbeat's report, longtime Markiplier fan Craig Fitzpatrick pointed out that while not every aspiring creative "has 30 plus million subscribers" and can generate production funds on Iron Lung's scale, it's proof that films can be made and, crucially, do well, outside of a major studio system. "But I do think that it is something that is very inspiring towards current filmmakers or actors who want to get something out there," he added.
Based on David Szymanski's 2022 game of the same name, Iron Lung follows convict Simon (played by Fischbach), as he's imprisoned in a cramped submarine and tasked with looking for lost stars and planets inside a desolate moon's ocean of blood. As you do... "It was his universe that I was playing in, so I wanted to make sure that it was going to respect that," Markiplier says of working "very closely" with Szymanski.
As of February 17, the 127-minute sci-fi horror flick has a 61% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics calling it everything from "admirable" and "nerve-rattling" to "meandering" and "bloated".
Iron Lung is in select cinemas now. For more, check out our guide to the most exciting upcoming horror movies heading our way.
