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| 25 | art references blog | multifandom video games | i create what i like

[nazo-kg]

I always struggled to capture people's likeness but I hope it looks at least a little bit like markiplier lololol

I loved Iron Lung as a game a lot, so I'm super excited for the movie to come out, and no better person to spearhead this project. Congrats on the release, Mark!!

[fishmarketart]

Don’t ask how I get my ideas, I don’t know

[corvidaesgarden]

🩸THEY WILL HAVE THEIR EXECUTION. I WILL GET MY FREEDOM. 🩸

let's all say thank you to Markiplier for such a WONDERFUL film!!!

[cultofthorns]

I SEE YOU

[beauty-rex]

[tungstenmold]

You don’t belong up there, You BELONG down here.

Shop Teaser

@markiplier

[mapbottakeamap]

List of shit Simon was dealing with because oh my god my man was going through it

Radiation sickness

alcohol poisoning

CO2 poisoning

Oxygen deprivation

Dehydration

Starvation

Concussion

Probably bruised ribs

Burns

Loss of an arm

Electrical shocks

[oswinunknown]

loved this scene from iron lung /j

[fluidstatick]

I haven't seen the film yet, but I've been carefully following news about Mark Fischbach's Iron Lung for the last couple of months.

It's REALLY gratifying to see that on opening day yesterday, Iron Lung surpassed its 3 million dollar budget, grossing a cool 3.5 mil. Sam Raimi's latest film, Send Help, also opened yesterday - and it made back only 2.2 million of its 40mil budget.

Ok, you say, but why is that so notable? A difference of 1.3 million bucks is nothing in Hollywood, right? But please, walk with me while I give some context:

For those who are unfamiliar, Sam Raimi Created the Evil Dead trilogy, directed the Toby McGuire Spider-Man films, and remains a noted figure in the long line of Marvel Universe writer-directors. Whether you like him or not, he's an Action-Horror Juggernaut that's established his place in film canon over the last 40 years. Distributors pick him up on name alone. Send Help is his 16th film, so to say he's a veteran of film distribution is no overstatement. Despite the ad blockers I run on my phone and tablet, I've personally seen so many ads for Send Help over the last six weeks that I'm tired of Rachel McAdams' face. Raimi can afford that kind of marketing saturation; he spent 40 million making this film. It opened yesterday in 3,475 theaters, which is on par with a typical "big budget" release spread.

On the other hand, Mark Fischbach is, well, Markiplier. Despite his long youtube career, in the larger film world he's an incredibly niche, small potatoes filmmaker. Anyone who's followed the plight of Qcode's podcast-to-miniseries adaptation, The Edge of Sleep, knows that Mark's incredibly focused and tenacious when it comes to polishing and distributing his work. He fought tooth and nail to get TEoS out of development hell, arguing with streaming services of all stripes, and eventually facing blatant sabotage by Amazon Prime, despite already being Emmy nominated for his previous webseries.

In the wake of all that static from the TV industry, Mark knew he had to get Iron Lung to an audience with no studio backing whatsoever. He and his wife Amy contacted 60 individual theaters, asking for distribution. There's been no ad space on websites, outside of the domains belonging to theaters showing the film. There have been no billboards, no promotional tours, no studio money. But that's where 38 million Markiplier fans have taken over.

Mark's viewers and longtime fans called and emailed their local theaters directly, en masse, because they wanted this movie. The three largest movie theater chains in America sat up and took notice, and international theater chains soon followed. Now, as I write this, Iron Lung is showing in 4161 theaters internationally. That's almost 700 more theaters than Send Help. It's made a 17% profit in 24 hours. For Send Help to make that kind of box office return on investment, it would have had to make 46.8 million yesterday alone - the same amount of money that Sinners made over its 3-day opening weekend.

I don't care if you like Markiplier's body of work or not. I've heard people call this film a "Vanity Project," or an "Ego Trip." I've seen several reviews for the film that are less than glowing. Frankly, I don't give a shit. The debut of this film, on this scale, is a massive achievement. It's an eldritch chamber-horror sci fi bottle film. The last time I encountered a film built like this (one set, carried by one actor, produced on a shoestring budget), it was the Willem Dafoe film Inside (2023). That film grossed less than a million dollars worldwide through its entire run.

Think about that. Markiplier outgrossed a fucking Willem Dafoe Movie. Three times over. In 24 hours.

Forbes, Variety, and so on are like "Huh. This Mark Of Pliers guy made a video game movie that's running with the big boys. Weird." Not one of them has thought to give Mark his flowers for the truly unprecedented nature of this debut. Tiny production. Overwhelming pushback. The beginnings of an unexpected triumph.

It's almost like the film industry built this unfairly maligned artist a coffin, threw it into the ocean of hollywood, waited for him to drown, and got their shit rocked.

It sounds sort of familiar, doesn't it...

[pinelews]

its getting steamy in here

[nxptoons]

I just want to live. Is that too much to ask?

Inspiration take from one of the shin godzilla posters!

[jayyyyyy-is-gayyyyyy]

Iron lung spoilers(?)

[kalciferx3]

there's 2 types of Iron Lung art

[kalciferx3]

there's 2 types of Iron Lung art

[just-this-guy42]

Who's directing what now?

[butterbrnttoast]

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

all of that effort for nothing

edit: I DREW THIS BEFORE I WATCHED THE MOVIE 😭 I KNOW… IM STARING AT YOU… I KNOW…

[bone-marreaux]

Small Iron Lung spoiler here, but there is a small detail I can't stop thinking about.

When the blood starts filling the cabin of the sub...the oxygen levels go up. The blood is bright red + oxygen levels go up? That likely means the blood is oxygenated. The implications of that alone are SO fucking fascinating. It really made me wonder...is the planet itself alive? Is it the creature causing this? Was Simon hallucinating that badly? Was it symbolizing Simon's final decision to save the black box rather than himself because "it's bigger than him" ergo, he's finally able to have a purpose that isn't purely survival and that is revitalizing him? Ahhhh, such a fun little detail that I am so curious of!