Markiplier's Iron Lung SHOCKS Box Office! Profit Explosion!

YouTuber Markiplier, real name Mark Fischbach, has officially made a splash in the cinematic world. His directorial debut, *Iron Lung*, a low-budget horror flick based on the eponymous video game, has absolutely smashed expectations, delivering a stellar opening weekend at the global box office. It's always exciting to see content creators successfully transition into different mediums, and in this case, it looks like Fischbach has really nailed it.

Markiplier's Iron Lung SHOCKS Box Office! Profit E...

The film raked in a cool $21.5 million worldwide. Domestically, *Iron Lung* pulled in an impressive $17.8 million, and it secured another $3.6 million from just seven international territories. The really wild thing? Markiplier self-distributed the movie. Considering the production cost was reportedly around $3 million, *Iron Lung* is already proving to be a hugely profitable venture. It's a testament to his dedicated fanbase and the power of online communities when harnessed correctly.

Fischbach himself seems genuinely humbled by the film's success. "But really it's all good, I fully expected Send Help to pass the movie eventually and I'm just so happy to be able to do this at all so second place behind a legend is fine with me. Thank you all so much for making it such an unbelievable weekend, I couldn't be happier!" he stated. According to The Numbers, *Iron Lung* is currently sitting comfortably in second place, right behind Sam Raimi’s *Send Help*, which is pretty respectable company to be in, if you ask me.

David Szymanski, the indie developer who created the *Iron Lung* video game, reacted to the film's success with an appropriately enthusiastic, "what the f**k," on social media. I think that perfectly encapsulates the general feeling of surprise and elation surrounding this indie success story. It's refreshing to see a smaller project gain such traction in a market often dominated by blockbuster franchises.

This performance by *Iron Lung* could signal a significant change in the industry. It may encourage other prominent YouTubers and online personalities to explore opportunities in filmmaking. For instance, Seán "Jacksepticeye" McLoughlin is executive producing an upcoming horror movie titled *Godmother*. It'll be interesting to see if *Iron Lung*'s success paves the way for more creator-driven films to break through in the mainstream. It certainly seems to be shaking things up a bit.

Of course, *Send Help* seized the top spot globally, earning $28.1 million ($20 million domestically and $8.1 million internationally). Meanwhile, Amazon's documentary *Melania* earned $7.04 million from 1,778 domestic theaters, though it didn't quite make the global top 10. After seven weeks, *Avatar: Fire and Ash* has grossed an estimated $1.4138 billion worldwide, and *Zootopia 2* has grossed an estimated $1.7769 billion after ten weeks. But honestly, the real story this week is the indie horror film that could.