Iron Lung, the feature-length video game adaptation written and directed by YouTuber Markiplier, is killing it at the global box office. Having originally been scheduled to show in just 60 theaters across the US, the creator's fans rallied together to request more screenings, which led to the movie, which reportedly cost $3 million to make, appearing in 4,161 cinemas internationally – and raking in a whopping $47 million so far.
Now, in a new interview with BBC's Newsbeat, Markiplier, whose real name is Mark Edward Fischbach, described its success as "a win for YouTubers". He went on: "The more that this happens the more normalized it becomes."
