The success of Iron Lung by famed internet personality Markiplier has been one of the defining film stories of 2026. The film used Markiplier’s fame and internet word-of-mouth instead of the usual multimillion-dollar advertising campaign, and achieved great results.
In the wake of it all, many are now wondering about the impact of Iron Lung‘s success on Hollywood going forward. Will content creators be a large part of film advertising going forward? Has Iron Lung ushered in the next era of indie filmmaking? As with anything related to filmmaking, the answers to these questions are never simple.
The man behind ‘Iron Lung’ and its success
Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach is no stranger to the internet-loving Gen Z, and now is one step closer to being a full-blown celebrity. His YouTube channel, currently with 38.5 million subscribers, is one of the oldest and most established on the site, and anything it covers is bound to see a boom in popularity. His playthroughs of video games, particularly horror games like Five Nights at Freddy’s, are what he is most known for. It thus should not be surprising that his first feature film is in fact an adaptation of the 2022 indie horror game of the same name.
While Iron Lung marked Markiplier’s debut on the silver screen, this is not new territory for him. YouTube Originals has a catalog of content branded around him, such as A Heist with Markiplier and In Space with Markiplier, and in 2024, he starred in the Amazon Video miniseries The Edge of Sleep. Many modern horror games, including Five Nights at Freddy’s, acknowledge and even cater to him as part of their marketing. He may not be Hollywood A-list, but his name nonetheless carries real weight in the online and indie spaces.
Markiplier’s relationship with the Iron Lung video game started in late 2022 when it was released. The game was an immediate success and made its rounds with horror content creators, Markiplier included. Watching his original video on the game, its unspoken, dread-inducing horror clearly resonated with him. The impact of the Iron Lung video game’s success on him was fully revealed when news of his film adaptation suddenly arrived months later, and the rest is history.
What makes the success of ‘Iron Lung’ special
Iron Lung was such a landmark achievement for Markiplier because it was entirely funded by him, a first for his big productions. With its estimated cost of $4 million, he definitely was taking a risk in making it. Markiplier advertised the film through his YouTube channel, socials, and press releases, forgoing traditional commercials. This is notable since, as anyone knowledgeable in filmmaking will say, marketing is crucial to a film’s success. Most modern Hollywood productions have huge marketing budgets, it being common for them to be larger than the actual film’s. How Iron Lung was so successful, grossing over $50 million despite release complications, mainly through word-of-mouth, is truly remarkable.
How the name behind Iron Lung would impact its success became apparent long before it was released. Trailers posted on Markiplier’s channel each garnered over 7 million views, almost matching contemporary Hollywood film trailers, and informal production updates each got over 1 million. The buzz on social media became palpable when fan campaigns led to the film’s limited release of 60 independent US theaters being expanded to over 4000 internationally. These campaigns, as well as the film’s financial success, are credited for inspiring Warner Bros’ recent acquisition of its distribution rights and premiering it in even more countries, such as India.
Markiplier financing, starring in, and advertising Iron Lung is not even the full extent of his involvement. He also directed, wrote, and edited the film, all on his own time and budget. His YouTube uploads slowed, and he turned down a role in 2023’s Five Nights at Freddy’s. It was clear that this was his passion project, and fans more than reciprocated that passion.
Hollywood’s relationship with indie filmmaking
It is difficult to define what exactly constitutes an indie film in the modern studio landscape. It traditionally included any film made outside the Hollywood studio system, but this is misleading. Many modern indie films receive financing from big studios in exchange for distribution rights and/or a cut of the revenue. Thus, while they have the traits of indie filmmaking, how ‘independent’ they are of Hollywood is debatable. This is why many define indie filmmaking mainly by its production stylings and ‘spirit’, but the economics of it are hard to overlook.
Iron Lung is thus notable for being an indie film in every sense of the word. It had no studio involvement until after release, even from famed indie studios like A24. In fact, A24’s rising mainstream popularity is leading many to question its indie status. There is a growing sentiment that indie filmmakers stand the best chance with a studio like A24, which is antithetical to the indie spirit. Even when considering the impact of Markiplier’s mainstream popularity, Iron Lung‘s success is a real outlier.
Indie films, especially the ones supported by Hollywood or made by studios like A24, often still rely on traditional advertising strategies. They may air commercials in a limited capacity, enter film festivals, and/or apply for prestigious awards like the Grammys and Oscars. Beyond simple browser adverts and corporate social media accounts, internet marketing is surprisingly foreign to the film industry. Now, though, many are wondering if Markiplier has opened Pandora’s box, and a new era of film economics is beginning. After all, he himself thinks content creators represent a significant marketing opportunity for Hollywood.
Is the next era of filmmaking here?
To cut right to the chase, I regrettably think that most people are overestimating how Iron Lung looks to Hollywood. As I have alluded to, the film showed the potential of content creators as advertisers, which is what Hollywood will learn if anything. Lower-budget “B” films were common during the 20th century, but died out with the rise of the modern blockbuster. Blockbusters cost tons of money, demanding most of a studio’s resources, but are immensely profitable, able to supplement box office performance with merchandise and franchise potential. In the modern filmmaking landscape, less profitable low-budget films lack studio appeal.
Things could turn out differently for indie filmmaking, however. Since these studios lack the resources to make blockbusters, low-budget films reliant mainly or solely on box office performance are the only option. To them, a content creator who has both acting experience and a built-in audience is obviously appealing. Perhaps Iron Lung paved the way here for content creators as serious actors, not just marketing gimmicks like with Hollywood. In that way, the line between innovative indie filmmaking and commercial Hollywood becomes even more apparent.
What I think will definitely not happen is a new breed of self-financed films being made in Iron Lung’s image. Markiplier had professional film experience from previous productions, over 13 years of experience to garner audiences, and money. In many ways, it regrettably is a “Step 1: be rich” situation. While what he achieved is undoubtedly inspiring, a few key factors prevent every first-time filmmaker from replicating his efforts.
Looking back at past content creator films
I would like to conclude with a look at Iron Lung‘s forerunners, as longtime social media users will know it is far from the first film starring internet personalities. The most infamous are the FЯED trilogy, three TV films based on the then-popular YouTube channel of the same name. They pulled in respectable TV ratings while airing from 2010-2012, but were critically panned and failed to meaningfully grow FЯED‘s reach. Another 2010 cult internet film is Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, based on the iconic Scott Pilgrim webcomics. Despite generally favorable reviews, it bombed at the box office and remained a one-off.
The 2010s and early 2020s would see a handful more of these sorts of films, which fell into the same trappings as before. I think their critical flaw was starring content creators as themselves, which limited their audience to preexisting fans. Iron Lung, meanwhile, takes itself much more seriously and is not built solely around the Markiplier persona. It thus enjoyed a much wider reach, appealing to fans of the game and horror in addition to Markiplier fans.
These films all show that Hollywood, in a way, has already tried content creator films. The internet is so big nowadays that any influencer will always be niche, no matter how many followers they have. They do not have the widespread appeal of a high-concept story with a strong moral, and thus do not fit the blockbuster model. To me, their films being indie projects coming from themselves is how it should be anyway. Keeping stakeholders out of the equation allows creative voices to shine through, which I think is the true indie spirit.
