YouTube Star Markiplier’s ‘Iron Lung’ Hopes To Soak Up A Ton Of Oxygen At January Box Office

“Showtimes we’re selling out within minutes of us putting tickets on sale in our theaters.”

Such is the insight from Western Film Services exhibition booking CEO Joe Garel about the sales fury for YouTube star Markiplier‘s upcoming feature take of the 2022 videogame Iron Lung. After being announced back in October 2023 with its first trailer, it became an actual theatrical release when the social media content creator made it known on December 5 that tickets were going on sale to his followers. Markiplier, whose real name is Mark Fischbach, wrote, directed, stars in and executive produced Iron Lung.

Initially, the plan was for the release to be in a handful of independent theaters, but the minute Markiplier told his 73 million faithful across social to call their local theaters, the big circuits — AMC, Regal and Cinemark — caught the wave. What was once a niche release on January 30 boomed into a 2,500-theater release with projections now literally wild for a little movie that’s going up against 20th Century Studios’ horror movie Send Help, directed by Sam Raimi and starring Dylan O’Brien and Rachel McAdams, and Black Bear’s second theatrical release, the Jason Statham action title Shelter.

We are hearing that Iron Lung off a simple social media campaign of a trailer and poster drop — an echo of the simplicity and thriftiness, and sheer promo power of Taylor Swift with her recent music movies — could do around $9M-$10M when it opens on Jan. 30. Some in distribution circles wouldn’t be surprised if it does double. Note, Iron Lung is going up against the Disney marketing machine of Send Help, which is looking to be No. 1 with $14M, while Shelter is eying $8M-$10M.

The wonder with Iron Lung is how it’s poised to do substantial business off of a near existent P&A. Markiplier already held a premiere for the movie back on Dec. 5 at LA’s Alamo Drafthouse downtown. Presales are rumored to be well north of $5M; 30x that of Terrifier 3 at the same point in time. But don’t use that horror pic as a comp. When it comes to these heavy advance ticket sales for niche fan titles, quite often there isn’t any further expansion of the audience. Markiplier hired distribution booking vet Bill Herting, who use to work for the Dino De Laurentiis studio in the 1980s when it released movies, as well as General Cinema and Cineplex Odeon. Herting is close with Markiplier’s manager, Ben Curtis.

Word about Iron Lung has gained oxygen abroad with Herting receiving phone calls from Australia and UK where the movie is respectively booked in 220 and 210 theaters. Some rival studio executives in order to have a better gauge on Iron Lung rallied NRG tracking to include the feature in its recent tracking reports since it was going wide. First choice is solid with women under 25 followed by men under 25 and well ahead of such releases as Talk to Me ($10.4M opening) at the same point in time and 2024’s Demon Slayer…Hashira Training ($11.4M).

Meanwhile, Send Help is best with men over 25 and women over/under 25, well ahead of Longlegs in first choice ($22.4M). Shelter is looking quite similar to the recent Gerard Butler movie Greenland 2: Migration which pulled in 48% guys over 25 and 37% women over 25 for an $8.4M opening.

The blurb for Iron Lung: In a post-apocalyptic future after “The Quiet Rapture” event, a convict explores a blood ocean on a desolate moon using a submarine called the “Iron Lung” to search for missing stars/planets.

Markiplier who counts over 38M subscribers on YouTube currently co-hosts Spotify podcasts “Distractible” and “Go! My Favorite Sports Team.” He made a cameo in 2023’s Five Nights at Freddy’s and starred in the Amazon Prime/New Regency limited series The Edge of Sleep. He also starred in the Emmy-nominated YouTube series “In Space with Markiplier,” and its second “A Heist with Markiplier,” on which he created, wrote and directed as well.

Whatever the opening is with Iron Lung, it’s another win for alternative content on the big screen when it’s being encroached by streaming. Not to mention, it’s another example of the guerrilla marketing wizardry of social media influencers.