YouTuber Mark "Markiplier" Fischbach’s directorial debut has debuted at the top of the box office this weekend.
Released on Friday (January 30), Fischbach and David Szymanski’s new sci-fi horror movie Iron Lung grossed an estimated $8.9 million at the domestic box office, according to Variety.
The movie had some stiff competition in dark comedy Send Help, which stars Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien, as well as the Jason Statham-starring action movie Shelter and new Melania Trump documentary, Melania.
With a budget of roughly $3 million, Iron Lung is expected to pull nearly three times as much, with a projection of $17 million by Sunday. Iron Lung is based on the video game of the same name, and Fischbach stars in the movie as main character Simon.
The movie’s blockbuster success also comes as a surprise, as the low-budget release was seen on a little over 3,000 theater screens without a distributor. But since Fishbach has a strong YouTube following of more than 38 million, his fans showed up.
"I know that I’ve sold to them before," Fishbach told IndieWire. "I’ve gone on tour and I’ve sold out theaters, so I know that I can get people to show up. I was like, 'Yeah, I can bet on myself for this one.'"
Sam Herting of Centurion, the company brought in to handle the movie’s theater bookings, said: "It’s one thing to have a lot of followers. But loyalty of the followers is another thing. Mark’s fans are just so ride-or-die for him."
Centurion’s Bill Herting — who is also Sam’s dad — added: "The loyalty. The loyalty. The loyalty. That’s the differentiator."
