The horror genre is on top of the box office charts, with both Iron Lung and Send Help releasing into theaters over the weekend. One is a self-financed, self-released video game adaptation from mega popular social media superstar Markiplier, while the other is the genre return of beloved filmmaker Sam Raimi, released by Disney’s 20th […]
While Send Help starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien has a reported production budget of $40 million, Markiplier’s Iron Lung starring, well, Markiplier, was self-funded for just $3 million. That means the film is already massively profitable in just the first few days of release, and there was no marketing budget to speak of to balloon up that overall budget.
Markiplier will have to split the profits roughly 50-50 with theaters, but he’s coming out on top in a big way with his debut on the scene as an indie filmmaker to watch going forward.
Mark “Markiplier” Fischback wrote, directed and stars in Iron Lung, which adapts the game by David Szymanski. In a post-apocalyptic future after The Quiet Rapture, a convict explores a blood ocean on a desolate moon using a submarine to search for missing stars/planets.
“It’s kind of a hero moment to showcase indie filmmaking is possible,” Markiplier said in a statement. “If that could inspire someone to keep making films, that’d be pretty cool. And maybe it could open up a door for other people that do their projects independently and know that there could be success in it.”
The doors have been kicked wide open, and while not everyone has the money or the following of Markiplier, stories like this one give us a sneak peek into an evolving industry that could become a whole lot more creator-friendly in the years to come. Is it time for a new wave of independent cinema at the box office? The success of Iron Lung suggests that audiences might be ready for something other than big movies from big studios. And that’s an exciting prospect.
Our advice? Support Markiplier and Sam Raimi at your local theater this week!
‘Send Help’
