Markiplier says studios “should be worried” after Iron Lung success

by

Markiplier made his film, Iron Lung, completely on his own, and in a recent interview, he explained why traditional movie studios might need to take notice of this new wave of independent filmmaking.

Iron Lung stands out from most movies today. It’s remarkable because the director made the entire film independently – financing it, writing, producing, and editing it all without help from a studio or any marketing money. Films like this usually only get shown at small film festivals.

Iron Lung wasn’t just another independent success story. It started as a popular horror video game and quickly gained attention thanks to support from Markiplier, a well-known online creator with 38 million followers. This led to major cinema chains like AMC, Cinemark, and Regal deciding to show the film.

The new movie proved incredibly popular, with tickets selling out almost instantly after its late January release. It’s already earned close to $50 million worldwide, despite only costing $3 million to make.

Markiplier on shaking up the movie industry after Iron Lung

In a recent Vice interview, the YouTuber shared that he has no plans to slow down and thinks content creators are already starting to change the film industry.

The discussion started when someone asked Markiplier if his involvement with the film Iron Lung was a single project, or if it signaled a trend of YouTubers making movies.

He believes whatever is happening isn’t starting now—it’s already occurred. This might be the first time the situation has been brought to light without outside influence. He anticipates repeating whatever action caused this, warning others to intervene before he does it again.

The creator suggested that some studio leaders might underestimate how serious this situation actually is.

He acknowledged some people are worried about whether they’re still needed, asking themselves, ‘Do they need us?’ But he clarified that the answer is no.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by VICE (@vice)

I understand that might be unsettling news for someone running a studio. There’s likely a lot of resistance to accepting it, but the truth is, I’m not even one of the most popular creators on YouTube. I might not even be in the top one hundred, and that’s probably what they find most concerning.

He’s right. Currently, Markiplier has 38.5 million subscribers, making him the 152nd most subscribed-to channel on YouTube.

I do get frustrated sometimes, but perhaps not as often as people realize. I expect it will happen again, and likely many times in the future, though.

Markiplier believes that as more YouTubers start making their own films, they might eventually team up and create their own movie studio, similar to how streaming services have developed into something resembling traditional cable television.

Markiplier doesn’t plan on changing that, though. “I prefer working on my own,” he explained, “which probably isn’t a surprise.”

Look, I’m not completely opposed to working with a big studio down the line. I really think there’s room for all sorts of projects, and that’s what makes things exciting – everyone’s trying to do their best work. You just have to be strategic about it all.

He finished by reiterating, “Yeah, they should be worried.”

Read More

2026-03-14 04:19