While I admittedly did not head to the theater to support my local YouTuber this time (and boy, there sure a lot of YouTuber horror directors now), I do want to see Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach’s Iron Lung. Now, we’ll be able to soon, as we’ve just learned the streaming release date.
When is the Iron Lung streaming release date?
The Iron Lung streaming release date is May 31, 2026, but there’s a catch in that it’s only going to be available on one platform, which is somewhat unusual. You might be able to guess that.
“It’s releasing exclusively on YouTube Movies,” Markiplier said, “because I figured you guys are already here anyway. It made the most sense. They were the people that would talk to me, because I don’t know how many other companies would have, or even given me a chance of doing something like this.”
It’s a pretty unusual move to limit a PVOD (paid video on demand) release to a single platform like this, and in this case, it means fans can’t find it on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play or others. From what I can find, it doesn’t cost much more, if anything, to release across these platforms, at least not compared to what you might earn on them. Maybe he’s just really, really loyal to YouTube, as he says, and of course, this will win points with his already hyper-engaged audience.
Iron Lung was a huge hit for the YouTuber, bringing in $50 million on a reported $4-5 million budget, despite a very limited run in theaters. The film had a “good enough” 62% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, but a much higher 87% “verified hot” audience score, impressing his fans and newcomers to his work.
Markiplier is the latest in a string of YouTubers directing horror movies, which range from productions like Talk to Me to the upcoming Backrooms to the just-released Obsession, the viral hit made by Curry Barker, previously known for funny skits and short films on the platform. But Markiplier is easily the highest-profile YouTuber to do something like this, and was rewarded handsomely.
There are no plans for an Iron Lung sequel, and Markiplier says that he will take a break for a while, at least a year, before heading back to do another film. He indicates that, unlike Iron Lung, he will not star in his next film. Iron Lung is as good a start as he could hope for, and everyone will be curious to see what he does next.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.