Evidence #229: How an independent film distributed by a lone player destroyed the US box office | culture

TTwo very unusual films were released last weekend. You’ve almost certainly heard of it: Melania, the documentary centering on the biography of the First Lady of the United States, which was screened in thousands upon thousands of often completely empty movie theaters around the world by Amazon and Jeff Bezos in what is widely seen as a White House push. Melania’s $7 million in the US was a little better than expected (and much higher than the film’s staggering numbers elsewhere), but given the documentary’s enormous cost, it’s still a huge loss (especially if rumors that Amazon paid to show the film in some theaters are true). Then again, this was the rare multi-million dollar film where the primary marker of success probably wasn’t financial.

As for the other unusual film released last weekend, you’re unlikely to have heard about it, even though it did dampen Melania’s earnings. Adapted from the video game of the same name, Iron Lung is a dark, post-apocalyptic sci-fi horror game in which a convict must pilot a rusting submarine through an ocean of human blood on a distant planet. However, this strange plot is not the strangest thing about the film. No, what’s really remarkable is that Iron Lung came close to the top of the US box office, grossing $17 million in its opening weekend, despite being entirely self-financed by an American YouTuber.

That YouTuber is Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach, who – although I must admit I’d never heard of him before writing this article – is a huge figure in the world of game streaming, attracting millions of views for his videos and skits. The charismatic, floppy-haired Fishbach first played Iron Lung, a largely unheralded indie horror game, on his channel in 2022 and clearly liked it enough to spend $3 million of his own money writing, directing and starring in a film adaptation that is showing on thousands of screens across America and many more around the world.

Iron Lung didn’t exactly wow critics, but that doesn’t seem very relevant here. Because it’s worth emphasizing how likely this is to happen. Making a film and then releasing it theatrically on this scale is a matter for experienced studios and distributors, not a lone player (Fischbach was rejected by studios and distributors before he chose to release Iron Lung himself). The barrier to entry is very high, especially when you take into account the typically expensive marketing costs of the release. Although that wasn’t a problem for Fischbach, who stuck to a limited production budget and pivoted the usual paid media campaign in favor of promoting his film’s life on his own platform to an army of engaged fans. Regular viewers of his channel must have heard about the film for the better part of two years, a constant drumbeat of anticipation that must have made its release feel like an event.

These fans, in turn, became active advocates for Iron Lung to be released on as many screens as possible, petitioning local movie theaters to show the film. It turned what could have been a niche release on a few screens into something much larger, attracting the attention of the Regal Cinema chain, which agreed to show the film in 99% of its locations in the United States, including the small Pacific territory of Guam. The result is an independent film of a very modern kind, built on blood, sweat, and parasocial relationships.

However, it is difficult to determine how repeatable this strike is. Self-financing and distributing a film is a no-go for most people, even those with an army of fans. And Fishbach has far more experience than most YouTubers in more formal filmmaking, ranging from online shorts to a self-financed TV series (The Edge of Sleep) to a feature film. Plus, it’s hard to imagine many YouTubers being willing to juggle making a full-length movie with the time-consuming task of broadcasting your life for the world to see (Fischbach has found himself making Iron Lung in his spare time on weekends).

However, current industry conditions may only offer a fraction of the opportunities for emerging, self-financing filmmakers. It is unlikely that Iron Lung – or indeed Melania – would have had the space to play on thousands of screens a decade or more ago, when films remained in cinemas for months, thanks to longer “theatrical windows”. But in an industry landscape where on-demand films disappear within weeks (and where there are fewer of them in theaters overall than before Covid), there is room for unannounced releases to squeeze onto screens. Let’s hope that means more DIY efforts like Iron Lung — and maybe fewer Melania ones.

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