YouTube creators have made a splash in the horror industry in recent years, with Bring Her Back (Danny and Michael Philippou) and Shelby Oaks (Chris Stuckmann) standing out in 2025 as acclaimed original creations from directors who started on the global streaming platform. Ultra-famous creator Markiplier (real name Mark Fischbach) joined the fray at the end of January with his video game adaptation Iron Lung.
The feature film debut of Fischbach, Iron Lung was famously self-funded and directed by the content creator, who stars in the movie as well. Iron Lung adapts the indie horror game of the same name from David Szymanski, which follows a man piloting a small submarine through a literal ocean of blood on a distant moon after all star systems and planets suddenly disappear.
With a budget of reportedly just $3 million, Iron Lung was an experiment in indie filmmaking and grassroots marketing more than it was an earnest attempt at turning a profit. However, after record-breaking presales and a stunning theatrical debut, Iron Lung found itself duking it out for the top spot at the box office, trading blows with legendary director Sam Raimi’s return to horror, Send Help.
Even the most aggressive estimates prior to the weekend’s presales didn’t project Iron Lung to have anywhere near the success at the box office that it’s having; it’s currently tracking to pull in over $17 million in its first weekend. What started as an underdog indie horror experiment has evolved into a fascinating case study on how movies are marketed, especially those with smaller budgets.
Man from behind in Iron Lung
The first and most obvious key to Iron Lung’s success is the unfathomable reach of its creator. Markiplier is one of the single most influential content creators that’s ever streamed on YouTube, with his live-stream play-throughs of indie horror games earning him a following that has pushed beyond 38 million subscribers to his channel, and over 23 billion views on his videos.
The first mentions of an Iron Lung movie originated in 2023 from the game’s creator, and Fischbach soon confirmed his involvement with the movie. In more than two years since then, Fischbach has pushed the movie directly to his droves of loyal subscribers, trading in a bloated marketing budget for direct promotion to the people who would make up the exact target demographic for an Iron Lung movie.
With that level of near-guaranteed support, along with the built-in horror movie audience who would tap in on Iron Lung out of sheer curiosity and affinity for the genre, the vision for how Iron Lung could turn a modest profit was clear. However, even the support of the masses doesn’t necessarily guarantee big box office numbers for an indie movie with no major distributor attached.
A Grassroots Campaign Expanded Iron Lung’s Theatrical Reach
Mark Fischbach covered in blood in Iron Lung
Fischbach somewhat inadvertently launched a brilliant grassroots marketing campaign leading up to the release of Iron Lung. With some well-placed promotion, including a gory 3D-printed popcorn bucket and well-placed interviews promising the most blood ever used in a horror movie, Fischbach was able to activate his core demographic to effectively assist in distribution.
Markiplier fans flooded independent and chain theaters alike with requests to screen the movie, displaying genuine interest and all but promising each respective theater that screening the movie would be a money-maker for them. All the online hype in the world still doesn’t make more tickets available for purchase to drive up box office numbers. There needed to be showings available, and Markiplier/Iron Lung fans made it happen.
While not every indie movie director has the reach and influence that Fischbach has, the fact that he got so many fans involved with pushing the movie into more theaters provides a blueprint for future content creators to break into cinema. Even directors who don’t have a streaming background can take notes, as the online, guerrilla-style promotion proved far more effective than any money that would be spent on digital ads or TV spots.
Early Reviews For Iron Lung Were Excellent, Driving More Interest
A mystery character in Iron Lung
It’s important to note that critics were not as impressed with Fischbach’s debut as fans were. While many applauded his ability to create dread, a common complaint was that the movie dragged at times, and given its runtime of more than two hours, it’s clear some further editing was likely necessary. Iron Lung currently has a 50% Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score, although that only accounts for 10 verified critic reviews.
The audience scores were far friendlier, and for genre films (especially indies) many moviegoers trust what their fellow audience members tell them more than what they view as biased or disinterested movie critics. Those seeking the approval of like-minded indie horror fans were not disappointed, as Iron Lung is currently Certified Hot on Rotten Tomatoes, with a Popcornmeter score of 90% on more than 500 reviews.
Iron Lung’s immediate success will be hard for anyone to ever replicate, given that the size of the Markiplier audience played such a huge role in how he was able to take a $3 million budget and create a box office juggernaut. However, it’s an important benchmark in how independent films can and should be marketed, especially in the social media age. As it stands, Iron Lung may prove to be one of the more influential movies of 2026.
- Release Date
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January 30, 2026
- Runtime
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127 Minutes
- Director
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Mark Fischbach
Cast
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Mark Fischbach
Speaker #2 (Voice)
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