Markiplier commands a massive online audience. But when the director, real name Mark Fischbach, announced his directorial debut, Iron Lung, critics were sceptical that the film could draw a comparable crowd. Well, when it opened in theaters on January 30th, it did just that.
Now, according to Collider, the sci-fi horror flick is on track to break a box office record. In the latest metrics captured by The Numbers, Iron Lung has brought in $48,800,000 worldwide. What does this number mean? Simply put, Iron Lung has just cracked the top 40 highest-grossing independent films of all time list.
Now comfortably secure at No. 38, Iron Lung surpasses A24’s Midsommar (No. 39), starring Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor, which grossed $48,059,189. Open Road Films’ 2014 Nightcrawler starring Jake Gyllenhaal rests at No. 40 with a record gross of $47,425,835. Iron Lung‘s rise pushes A24’s critically acclaimed 2023 picture The Iron Claw starring Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White down to 41 with $45,745,981 grossed.
Iron Lung has a ways to go before it can surpass the $53,939,297 gross earned by Neon’s 2017 film I, Tonya (No. 37) starring Margot Robbie and Allison Janney (who won the year’s Best Supporting Actress Oscars) or A24’s Oscar Award-winners 2022’s The Whale starring Brendan Fraser ($54,883,206 gross) and 2016’s Moonlight starring Trevante Rhodes, André Holland, Jharrel Jerome, and Best Supporting Actor winner Mahershala Ali ($65,172,611 gross).
But with the Iron Lung slated to open across Asia beginning on February 25, another rank climb could be inevitable.
No one thought Iron Lung would open to $18,190,786 or eventually bring in $39,192,092 domestically (the current international box office count is $9,607,908). But Iron Lung is proving to be the little engine that could, and Markiplier is its hopeful conductor.
Click here to find a showing of Markiplier’s Iron Lung in your area. Watch the film’s official trailer below.