Iron Lung and the Case for Taking Internet Creators Seriously

Much to the excitement of horror and indie video game fans, the popular PC and Nintendo Switch game Iron Lung is being made into a movie. But more than just being a chance to enjoy an innovative new franchise, the upcoming film is a chance to show Hollywood that new media and influencers shouldn't be dismissed outright.

Based on the 2022 game by David Szymanski, Iron Lung is being adapted by Mark Fischbach, better known by his YouTube handle Markiplier. One of the most well-recognized long-running faces on the platform, Fischbach has accumulated over 35 million subscribers over the more than a decade he's been active. He announced in April that he would be directing, producing, and starring in (as well as funding) the game adaptation.

The story of Iron Lung revolves around an unnamed convict sent to explore an ocean made of blood found on a distant alien moon in a welded-shut submarine, after all stars and planets in the universe mysteriously and inexplicably disappear. The movie, which is expected to follow a similar premise, was slated for release in late 2023.

Fischbach is far from the first YouTube star to make a movie. There's a long and unfortunate history of a sub-genre often disdainfully referred to as "YouTuber Movies." Such films (if you'd like to call them that) as Smosh: The Movie, Shane Dawson's Internet Famous, and The Thinning starring Logan Paul have stalked our screens for over a decade, to almost universally negative reviews. Rotten Tomatoes is brutally honest about what audiences, including fans of these creators, think of these projects. On Smosh: The Movie, for example, one reviewer says this is "One of the worst forms of media I've ever laid my eyes upon. I couldn't even make it through 5 minutes of this cinematic apocalypse." Despite the creators having upwards of 26 million subscribers on YouTube, fans still raked the project through the mud and gave it only a 42 percent approval rating. Other YouTuber projects tell a similar story.

But Fischbach might be the first to change the conversation and show the wider public that a movie made by a YouTuber doesn't have to be a YouTuber Movie. It's to his benefit that this isn't his first directing and acting rodeo. Fischbach's earlier projects, which have gotten increasingly expansive in scale and funding over the years, have shown that he's developed the skills to make the Iron Lung movie work. While he started with gaming videos, notably Five Nights at Freddy's playthroughs, Fischbach has also peppered in various other forms of scripted or alternative content on his channel. While most were small-scale, such as various collaborations with friends or other YouTubers, in 2019 he released A Heist with Markiplier, a YouTube Original that featured an interactive premise with 31 possible endings. It was wildly successful, gathering over 42 million views to date, and was nominated for two Streamy Awards, winning the one for Best Scripted Series. The 2022 sequel, In Space with Markiplier, was again nominated for two Streamy Awards, but also notably nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Interactive Media in the Children's and Family Award category.

Despite this, Fischbach as well as other new media creatives have had trouble breaking into traditional Hollywood. Few who started on YouTube or TikTok or other internet platforms have made it into the true mainstream and evolved beyond just being an influencer dabbling in something else. The history of vapid projects made in the past has certainly not helped would-be filmmakers gain a foothold of legitimacy in the industry.

More than anything, what Hollywood needs is a YouTuber project to do well by their traditional standards to show that these up-and-comers aren't anything to scoff at. If Iron Lung does well and is critically well received, it will be a win for all new media creatives striving to prove that they too have what it takes to succeed in an industry that has historically dismissed them. If Fischbach's history of success is anything to go by, there's hope yet.