Markiplier's New Horror Smash Hit Gets Streaming Release Update After $49M Box Office Success
By Published Apr 22, 2026, 8:45 AM EDT Nick Bythrow is a Lead Writer for ScreenRant. He has been writing for the site since September 2026. He graduated from Hampshire College in 2026, where he triple majored in Journalism, Communications, and Media Studies. When he's not writing about TV and movies for ScreenRant and his blog, , Nick is penning speculative fiction and poetry on . He lives outside Boston, Massachusetts. Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
Markiplier has explained when his horror movie hit comes home.
The YouTuber's smash hit horror movie, , has earned an update from the creator and star himself following its massive box office success. The independent horror movie based on David Szymanski's video game of the same name became an unexpected success in theaters, earning an estimated $49-50 million worldwide. were generally mixed from critics, but more positive from audiences. Markiplier directed, wrote, starred in, produced, and edited the film.
Now, in his latest YouTube stream, has confirmed plans for a digital release of Iron Lung. He explained how he plans to release the movie digitally on YouTube for viewers to purchase and watch at home. However, his plans go even further than Iron Lung, wanting to create a system where YouTubers themselves can release movies on the platform for viewers to buy. He says the setup for this goal is in its "final phase," meaning the movie could be coming out sooner rather than later.
Check out what Markiplier had to say below:
The reason Iron Lung‘s digital release has been taking so long is because I’ve been taking the extra steps to work out this deal where I can become this aggregator so that other people can benefit from it. That’s the goal. And that’s what I’ve been trying to do. And there’s a lot of legal loopholes to do it, and there’s a lot of setup to do it.
But I’m on the final phase of setting that up. And that means that it’s almost ready. I’ll have the ability to get movies up for sale on YouTube.
Markiplier also confirmed plans for a DVD and Blu-ray release of Iron Lung. He explained that, when it comes to producing the film on physical media, he's going to have his own DVD and Blu-ray machine, making the copies of the movie himself so he can distribute them on his own.
The box office success of the 2026 horror movie opened the door for films based on Internet personalities, such as Markiplier, to become thrust into the mainstream. The film, which had a budget of $3 million, was originally only going to be released in select theaters, before demand for the movie increased enough that it earned a wider release. This helped bolster its box office, with the movie competing closely with . Its performance made the movie all the more noteworthy, especially since it didn't have as much mainstream advertising as other films it was up against.
Markiplier's digital release plan not only opens the door for Iron Lung to get a YouTube release through his independent endeavors, also as a way for other YouTubers to release movies or big projects to the platform on their own terms. While YouTube has a Movies & TV section, a studio or someone to consolidate the film digitally is typically required. For Markiplier, he wants to create his own, releasing the movie without reliance on another company, while also acting as a liaison between YouTube and other creators who want to make their work purchasable on the platform.
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Iron Lung is just the first of multiple YouTuber-led movies coming out soon. This includes the directed by Kane Parsons and based on his web series of the same name. There's also in the works from YouTuber Jacksepticeye, another potential candidate for Markiplier's new release system. His horror movie may just be the start of YouTubers breaking into film in a bigger way, something that could redefine creativity on the platform forever.
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Mark Fischbach Speaker #2 (Voice) - Caroline Kaplan
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