Two weeks ago, Markiplier (Mark Fischbach) debuted his film Iron Lung, making $21.7M on opening weekend with a budget of only $3M. It got me thinking this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a creator-led film do well in theaters (Sam and Colby’s Legend of the Paranormal was shown in 350 theaters, and RackaRacka’s horror blockbuster Talk to Me grossed $92M). We’re still at the point where we’re going to see some creator films and projects that stink, but it feels like Hollywood and the creator ecosystem are merging more than ever.
Given all of this, we still have a long way to go…
What The Success of Markiplier’s Iron Lung Is Telling Us
I think what Markiplier did well was tell the story of how he personally funded the film, when everyone in this town passed, and how passionate he was about making it. He did it in the open, shared his process, and everyone has been along for the ride since the beginning. Markiplier also has an incredibly supportive fanbase. He originally thought the movie would be shown in 200 theaters, but after he put out a video asking fans to reach out to their local theaters, that number quickly grew to 3,000 theaters.
Obviously, if Markiplier puts out a movie, people are going to watch it, but it’s hard to know what the actual demand for the film is. The majority of films distributed in theaters don’t have that level of star power or consumer loyalty, where an individual can call on fans to contact theaters and actually follow through in the thousands. It also speaks to the amount of power the internet has to influence demand for a film.
Hollywood is making films they expect us to watch, but what they should be doing is giving us films that people have actually demanded to see.
Hollywood’s Acceptance of Creators
Every year, we see more acceptance of creators from big Hollywood studios. Jordan Matter just signed an exclusive partnership with Netflix, and Mark Rober has a new original series slated for later this year. Beast Games has also been a massive success on Amazon Prime Video.
This trend isn’t going anywhere, and Hollywood has figured out that working with specific creators yields success on streaming platforms and in theaters. Creators are hiring big teams and have successful production studios outside of YouTube. Fox recently inked a multiyear deal with Dhar Mann Studios for a series of original scripted vertical-video shows. The future state of Hollywood is going to involve creator-built studios making films and YouTube videos, which will also lead to more jobs for creatives in film.
Some Creator Films Will Fall Short
Not every creator is going to have the same level of success as Markiplier, Sam and Colby, or RackaRacka. In fact, I actually don’t think a lot of creators are even ready to make their own film. Ryan’s World’s film, Titan Universe Adventure, was a box-office failure, grossing $600,000 despite a $10M budget. I’m not trying to dog on Ryan, and I actually would have wanted to see that movie come out a few years earlier when he was at the top of YouTube. Dude Perfect has also had a lot of success on YouTube, but struggled with their theatrical release, making only $400,000 on opening weekend.
The Big Takeaway
Creator-led films are starting to prove they can be successful in the box office, but that doesn’t mean every creator should make a movie or that every release will hit. The playbook is clearly changing, and I think this trend continues in 2026.
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