Markiplier has officially made the leap from YouTube megastar to feature-film director with Iron Lung, his intense adaptation of the viral indie horror game. The self-funded project marks his debut as a filmmaker — and he took on nearly every major role behind the scenes.
In a statement shared with Variety, Markiplier joked about the challenge, saying, “They said it shouldn’t be done… that it would be ‘woefully unwise’ to tackle writing, directing, acting, and editing a movie myself. Showed them. 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.”
Learn more about Markiplier and his upcoming horror film below.
Markiplier — born Mark Edward Fischbach on June 28, 1989 — is one of the most influential creators in online entertainment. With more than 37 million subscribers on YouTube, he built his career through high-energy gaming videos, especially horror playthroughs, along with comedy sketches, interactive series, and vlogs. Raised in Ohio after being born in Honolulu to a German-American father and Korean mother, he originally studied biomedical engineering before dropping out to pursue YouTube full-time in 2012.
Since then, Markiplier has expanded far beyond gaming content. He co-created major YouTube Originals like A Heist with Markiplier and In Space with Markiplier, launched successful podcasts, and has become known for his charity livestreams that have raised millions for causes including cancer research. He’s also active in acting and voice work — and now, he’s making his feature-film directorial debut with Iron Lung, a self-funded adaptation of the viral horror game in which he also stars.
Iron Lung is a sci-fi horror film based on the indie game by David Szymanski—and it plunges viewers into one of the bleakest worlds imaginable. As Markiplier describes it, “The stars are gone. The planets have disappeared. Only individuals aboard space stations or starships were left to give the end a name — The Quiet Rapture.”
