How Markiplier and ‘Iron Lung’ Turned the Box Office Upside Down: ‘I Thought It Would Come Out in 200 Theaters’

As the holiday box office period was winding down, it was looking like movie theaters were facing another deep multi-week slump. But this past weekend, they were able to stem the tide with the help of an unlikely debut filmmaker: Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach.

After 13 years building a YouTube fanbase of 38 million subscribers with his popular “Let’s Play” videos — including a “Five Nights at Freddy’s” series that launched that horror game’s popularity — as well as a variety of creative projects, like his acclaimed Unus Annus series, Fischbach made his directorial debut with “Iron Lung.” The film is an adaptation of David Szymanski’s 2022 independent horror game about a convict forced…