CINCINNATI — YouTube creator and Cincinnati native Mark "Markiplier" Fischback's self-financed movie "Iron Lung" hit theaters over the weekend, marking a major success for the creator's debut film.
Markiplier, who was born in Hawaii and moved to Cincinnati at a young age, graduated from Milford High School in 2007 and attended the University of Cincinnati as an engineering student.
Once he began to see success posting gaming videos on YouTube in college, Markiplier packed up and moved to Los Angeles to further his career online. Now, his first official self-funded and distributed film has been released, and box office numbers did not disappoint.
Markiplier wrote, directed and starred in the movie, set in a post-apocalyptic future where a convict is sent to search for resources in an ocean of blood after an event known as "The Quiet Rapture."
"Iron Lung" reportedly cost $3 million to produce, and earned $21.7 million worldwide during its first weekend in theaters. The $17.8 million from North America alone puts its debut in the No. 2 spot in the continent for the weekend, behind Disney's release titled "Send Help."
During a YouTube livestream Sunday night, the Cincinnati native talked about what the movie's success meant to him.
"I'm tearing up ... it's been a bit of an emotional day in the best way possible," he said.
Markiplier went on to thank his fans, saying he doesn't care about the numbers but will be able to "give the crew a big bonus."
"I'm not a big studio," he said. "The split with the theaters is basically 50-50. It's really cool because everybody wins."
