Iron Lung’s path to theaters was unique, even if the movie isn’t
As a film, Iron lung is sometimes exciting but mostly forgettable. This is a low-budget horror film that has some interesting ideas and implements them extremely effectively, creating a sense of tension that unfortunately never develops into real scares. But the most important thing is what it represents. In an era where movie theaters are dominated only by the biggest blockbusters and smaller films attempt to carve their own path, Iron lung managed to gross over $20 million at the box office without the backing of a major studio. All it took was a lot of help from YouTube.
The circumstances around Iron lung are not really easy to reproduce. It is an adaptation of a 2022 indie horror game developed by solo creator David Szymanski, and it is written, directed and produced by Mark Fischbach, better known as YouTube star Markiplier. Markiplier is best known for his Let’s Play videos of indie horror games in particular, and he’s built a surprisingly huge following through it, with nearly 40 million subscribers on YouTube. Three years ago, Markiplier released a portion of the game that has been viewed over 14 million times. In 2022, Szymanski joked about Markiplier’s role in a Iron lung film, a trailer was released a year later, and now the final product is in theaters as Markiplier’s feature directorial debut. In addition to being the film’s creative lead, Markiplier is also the star, which is a notable feat for a film that primarily features a single person in front of the camera.
The premise of the film is quite original: in a dark future, a convict (Markiplier) is welded inside an experimental submarine as punishment for his crimes. He is tasked with exploring the ocean of a moon in search of… something. Oh, and this ocean is also made entirely of blood. Survive and he will regain his freedom. The convict cannot see outside the submarine except by using an underwater camera which takes low-resolution images of the deep (blood) sea. So the experience of watching Iron lung mainly watches Markiplier swear, mutter, and flip switches, while gradually going insane from being trapped in such a hellscape. The film manages to build surprising tension in this format early on, but it really starts to drag and feel repetitive as the story progresses. One of the most pivotal moments is a long sequence in which he draws a map.
Iron lung is very clearly based on a video game. It uses so many of the same concepts: a guide character who is mostly just a voiceover through a speaker; diegetic storytelling elements like instruction manuals and large screens that reveal the depth of the submarine and the amount of oxygen remaining; audio logs that reveal important plot details; and a mid-stream equipment upgrade. Its cast even includes Troy Baker, the voice actor behind seemingly every video game of the last decade. All of these elements may work very well in the context of an interactive video game, but they seem much clunkier in a live-action film. That said, as a first feature film, Iron lung is very promising, even if it ultimately never fully materializes.
Despite this, Iron lung is an unqualified success. It reportedly had a budget of only $3 million and, according to Deadline it finished second at the US box office over the weekend, grossing over $18 million, a figure that has since surpassed $20 million worldwide. This places him just behind that of Sam Raimi. Send helpa 20th Century Studios production, and well ahead of Amazon’s very expensive documentary on Melania Trump.
YouTubers’ successful transition into other creative fields is not a new phenomenon, not even in Hollywood. Brothers Danny and Michael Philippou left YouTube to release two excellent horror films in Talk to me And Bring her backboth of which grossed tens of millions. But these films also had the power (and money) of the A24 studio behind them, while Iron lung is a much more popular affair. Markiplier used his fervent fan base to speak directly to theaters, ultimately allowing the film to be shown on over 3,000 screens, despite not having a distributor. He managed to turn one type of popularity into a smash hit in a completely different medium.
“There were so many people asking [the theater chains to screen it]” he said THE Hollywood journalist. “There have been enough people asking the question to think they were robots. On this scale, it’s hard for other people to imagine that so many people are asking the question.” In that same interview, he said there was “still a stigma against YouTube” and he wanted Iron lung to succeed in part to help break down this barrier.
While this may help other big-name creators looking to get into filmmaking, it’s not a formula that will be easy for filmmakers or studios to replicate. Aspiring horror directors can’t first amass an audience of millions on YouTube to help their projects succeed, and there’s a huge difference between running a channel and making a blockbuster.
But the Iron lung The story shows the power of having an existing audience and how the scale of online success has now reached a point where it can disrupt even the most established institutions, like Hollywood, and compete directly with companies like Disney and Amazon. And with other hits like Iron lungthis stigma will only continue to fade – and theaters may no longer look the same.
