Like the indie video game the movie is based on, Markiplier’s Iron Lung (read our review here) goes a long way to prove you don’t have to come from a triple-A studio to make a significant impact in Hollywood. Earlier this year, YouTube creator Markiplier unleashed Iron Lung in theaters, based on the dread-inducing horror video game developed, published, and composed by David Szymanski. Produced for only three to four million, Markiplier’s little movie that could grossed $51 million worldwide, turning a profit no one saw coming. That same movie is getting a YouTube release on May 31.
Markiplier announced Iron Lung’s YouTube premiere date on Sunday morning during a panel at Cannes. The film will be a YouTube exclusive. “I’m pretty loyal to it,” Markiplier said about making Iron Lung exclusive to YouTube instead of Prime Video, Apple TV, Fandango at Home, On Demand, or any of the other digital platforms for at-home movie watching.
Amazingly, Iron Lung banked over $50 million with no marketing spend, yet it reached audiences due to word of mouth, its social media presence, and people talking it up online. I remember seeing an Iron Lung movie poster while walking home from a Nine Inch Nails concert, and one of the other concert-goers saying, “Iron Lung? What the hell is that?” The person they were walking with then launched into a TED Talk about the film’s history and release. I stayed silent, admiring this person’s passion for indie horror.
Iron Lung takes place “in a post-apocalyptic future following ‘The Quiet Rapture’, an event that causes stars and habitable planets to vanish.” The synopsis continues, “A desperate attempt to explore an ocean of blood on a desolate moon unfolds when a convicted individual is sealed inside a decaying submarine nicknamed the Iron Lung — a descent into dread that becomes as psychological as it is physical.”
In addition to Markiplier, Iron Lung stars Caroline Rose Kaplan, Troy Baker, and Elsie Lovelock. While addressing the crowd at Cannes, Markiplier said he won’t be making another film for at least a year, saying he wants to spend time with his wife. “Next year I’ll be working on something,” he said.