IRON LUNG Director Markiplier Offers Emotional Response as Self-Financed Film Hits $21 Million; Calls It a Win for Indie Films
Sometimes the most exciting movie stories don’t come out of Hollywood boardrooms. They come from creators betting on themselves.
That’s exactly what happened this weekend when Markiplier watched his indie sci-fi horror film Iron Lung explode at the box office and leave him openly emotional about what it all means.
The film opened at No. 2 in North America, pulling in an impressive $17.8 million from 3,015 theaters. Add another $3 million overseas and Iron Lung landed a $21.7 million global debut.
That’s an eye-opening number for a movie that reportedly cost around $3 million to make and had no traditional studio backing. It even came close to challenging a much larger release from Disney, as Send Help opened to $30 million.
Markiplier, whose real name is Mark Fischbach, didn’t just star in Iron Lung. He wrote it, directed it, financed it himself, and handled distribution.
The film adapts the unsettling video game into a post-apocalyptic survival story centered on a fugitive forced to scavenge resources in an ocean of blood after a rapture-like event. It’s strange, intense, and while I wasn’t a fan of it, it clearly connected with audiences.
During a YouTube livestream on Sunday night, the filmmaker didn’t hide how much the moment hit him.
“I’m tearing up at the beginning of this,” Markiplier said during a YouTube livestream on Sunday night. “It’s been a bit of an emotional day in the best way possible. So I’ll first say, ‘Thank you guys so much.'”
The success is even more remarkable considering the movie’s theatrical life is short. Markiplier told fans in a video titled “ACTUAL EMERGENCY MEETING!!” that Iron Lung won’t be playing in many theaters next weekend. Even so, the financial outcome is already a massive win for both the filmmaker and theater owners.
“I personally don’t care about the numbers, other than, ‘Woohoo, success.’ I’m going to be able to give the crew a big bonus. That’s awesome. I’m not a big studio. So the split with the theaters is basically 50-50. It’s really cool because everybody wins.”
That win almost didn’t happen on this scale. According to Markiplier, the plan originally had Iron Lung opening in just 50 theaters. Word spread fast among exhibitors, and suddenly the movie was booked nationwide. He even took calls from major studios about helping with the theatrical rollout, but ultimately chose to keep the release independent.
“It’s kind of a hero moment to showcase indie filmmaking is possible,” he said.
With Iron Lung sitting just behind Send Help on domestic charts, Markiplier encouraged fans who were on the fence to catch the film while they still could. Not out of spite, but out of hope that the industry might take notice.
“If you didn’t have any plans tonight, or — just because movies are so confusing, you have to watch it twice — maybe you could see it,” he said. “I’m almost hesitant to ask this, but I think it might be a big win for independent filmmaking.
“It’s not to shut out Sam Raimi. It’s kind of to shut out Disney for winning [the box office], like, 10 weeks in a row. Maybe they could only win nine weeks in a row, the one weekend that ‘Iron Lung’ is here.
“If that could inspire someone to keep making films, that’d be pretty cool. And maybe it could open up a door for other people that do their projects independently and know that there could be success in it.”
And in a move that feels perfectly on brand, Markiplier made it clear there’s no bad blood with the competition. In fact, his next movie night was already planned.
“I’m going to watch ‘Send Help.’ I want to watch it so bad.”
For indie filmmakers watching from the sidelines, Iron Lung isn’t just a successful movie. It’s proof that taking a massive creative risk can pay off, even when the odds seem stacked against you.