“WE ARE THE #1 MOVIE IN AMERICA!” YouTube celebrity Markiplier declared the weekend of the release of his first ever movie, “Iron Lung” based on an indie first-person sci-fi horror game of the same name.
The film released on January 30th and is still in theaters for the time being. Following the release of Iron Lung, Markiplier has returned to his YouTube channel after a hiatus, livestreaming so that he could celebrate and interact with his fanbase in real time. He firmly believes that his community reached this milestone with him, hence why he said “we” in the quote at the top of this article. Markiplier has been making content for nearly 14 years now, and he constantly shows how grateful he is for everyone who’s supported him this far.
Iron Lung the video game was released in 2022 by David Szymanski. You play as a convict who is tasked with submerging into a ocean of blood on a desolate moon and finding evidence of remaining life after a cosmic event called “The Quiet Rapture” wiped out nearly every star and life source in the universe. Markiplier did not only write, direct and produce the movie adaptation, but he also played the role of “Simon,” the protagonist.
The movie depiction adds a lot of backstory to the original title, but much like the game, it is Simon inside of a claustrophobic metal box for the majority of the two hour runtime. For those unfamiliar with Markiplier prior to the movie or confused about the deeper lore within the plot, this could be a tough movie to get into. It has psychological horror elements which are handled strongly and Markiplier’s acting is impressive, but some parts do drag. Some could argue it adds to the immersion of Simon being stuck in a nightmare for so long. Younger audiences who know Markiplier and older audiences looking for some horror can both enjoy this movie.
Markiplier never expected this project to reach the heights that it did. It was a passion project indie film that he figured he could show locally, but soon enough he had a website up (Ironlung.com) and select theaters across the country became available for him to show it. Those theaters multiplied until essentially all of America could see his three years of hard work on the big screen.
Iron Lung took the number one spot in the weekly Box Office top 10 list several times, going neck and neck with Sam Raimi’s Send Help. Markiplier not only reached first place as a first time indie movie director, surpassing Hollywood itself and a famous director. He also took the top of the podium for Australia, New Zealand, and potentially Canada for the opening weekend.
“Take that, Sam Raimi!” shouted Markiplier on a YouTube livestream the night of the movie’s release. “You’re gonna need people to ‘SEND HELP’ when Irong Lung comes in and takes it all!”
Markiplier is a very humble man, but his victory here is deserved. It isn’t every day you see someone challenge and dethrone Hollywood.
