Iron Lung isn’t just your regular YouTuber movie
From Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach, the video-game-to-movie adaption hit big at the box office
$3 million and over 300,000 litres of fake blood later, the film adaption of the Iron Lung game became a success in domestic and international theatres. (Markiplier Studios)
Jan. 30 marked a milestone for independent filmmakers worldwide.
Iron Lung, a video game to movie adaptation written, directed, and funded by Mark Fischbach — known professionally as Markiplier on YouTube — released in theatres worldwide. It made nearly $19 million at the U.S. box office during opening weekend.
Before being made into a movie, Markiplier had previously played the video game Iron Lung by David Szymanski on his YouTube channel back in May 2022.
Fischbach, having liked the game so much, decided that he wanted to make a movie adaptation of the game, with input from Szymanski.
With a budget of $3 million and more than 300,000 litres of fake blood, the movie adaptation of Iron Lung was born as Fischbach’s directorial debut.
There have been many “YouTuber-created movies,” such as Smosh: The Movie by Smosh, which was released in select theatres and later onto streaming platforms like Netflix.
But Iron Lung wasn’t just another movie made by a YouTuber — it was a movie made by one of YouTube’s most well-known creators.
Markiplier has more than 38 million subscribers, which contributed to the film’s theatrical success.
His original playthrough for Iron Lung sits at 16 million views, which contributed to the success of the movie and bringing viewers back to the video that started the journey.
As of today, the total combined theatrical performance of the movie, from both domestic — U.S. and Canada — and international — Europe and Australia — box offices is $48 million.
So what does the success of Iron Lung mean for indie filmmakers? It shows it’s possible to have an independent movie with a theatrical release.
It also shows that video-game-to-movie adaptations done right can contribute to further success for both the original creators and those who produced the movie.
