After nearly three years of blood, sweat, and tears, the most highly anticipated feature film debut from the digital world is finally heading to the big screen!
Markiplier (aka the one and only Mark Fischbach, YouTube’s favorite scream machine and content commander) is officially opening his sci-fi horror movie, Iron Lung, in theaters across the country in late January 2026!
From Indie Game Hit to Indie Film Triumph
Iron Lung is based on the seriously unsettling 2022 indie horror game of the same name by David Szymanski. The film’s premise is pure cosmic horror gold. It starts with the event known as “The Quiet Rapture,” where the stars and planets… vanish. The only survivors? Folks stuck on lonely starships or space stations.
Fast-forward decades later. A desperate corporate entity called the “Consolidation of Iron” makes a horrifying discovery on a barren moon: an ocean of blood. Hoping to harvest desperately needed resources from this crimson sea, they launch a high-risk expedition. A convict (who we can only assume is Markiplier himself) is welded inside a claustrophobic submarine. The sub’s forward viewport? Encased in metal, forcing the occupant to navigate using only a tiny monitor. The prize: freedom. The risk: becoming the 13th expedition to tragically fail.
Joining Markiplier in this incredibly high-pressure (literally) environment are a talented co-star lineup, including Caroline Rose Kaplan, Troy Baker, and Elsie Lovelock.
The Man Who Did Everything
What makes this release genuinely monumental is that Markiplier didn’t just star in this thing—he basically is the entire production company. He single-handedly produced, wrote, directed, edited, financed, and starred in Iron Lung. Talk about a passion project! Getting the film through post-production and into its theatrical window has been a labor of love for nearly three years, since he announced the shoot was wrapped back in April 2023.
In a statement about his superhuman effort, Markiplier quipped, “They said it shouldn’t be done. Not that it couldn’t be done, people have made movies before, just that it would be ‘woefully unwise’ to tackle writing, directing, acting and editing a movie myself. Showed them.”
He then added the ultimate Markiplier flex: “My bathroom might be a render farm now but I can’t wait for people to see the blood, sweat, blood, tears, blood and blood that went into this movie from everyone involved.” He also confidently claimed that Iron Lung holds a world record “for most blood in a horror movie. Or any movie for that matter.” Get ready for a gory spectacle!
A DIY Theatrical Takeover
Instead of going with a major distributor, Markiplier is taking the indie route and self-distributing the film. He’s working directly with independent theaters across the country. He’s aiming for a strong opening weekend showing (January 30 to February 1) in 50-100 independent theaters. Tickets are set to start going on sale on Friday, coinciding with the film’s glamorous L.A. premiere at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Downtown.
The streaming plan for the film hasn’t been finalized yet. So, if you want the whole, high-octane, blood-soaked experience, you’ll have to hit the theaters and support this grassroots cinematic effort!
With a massive digital following of over 73 million across platforms (including more than 37 million YouTube subscribers who watch everything from “scary games to full-on interactive movies”), Markiplier has more than enough enthusiastic fans to make this theatrical run a massive success. When he’s not making movies, you can catch him co-hosting the popular podcast Distractible. He also recently starred in the Amazon Prime Video limited series “The Edge of Sleep“ and the Emmy-nominated YouTube Original Series “In Space with Markiplier.”
