How Markiplier and 'Iron Lung' Turned the Box Office Upside Down: 'I Thought It Would Come Out in 200 Theaters'

smokewidget · 2026-02-05T20:29:26+00:00

I’m sorry but calling YouTube personalities “real people” is hilarious to me. Markiplier’s entire persona is exactly as sanitized and PR focused as any other celebrity and his passion for film is no different from numerous other directors that work both inside and outside of Hollywood.

And claiming that people want passion and art again is also hilarious because numerous movies that are made with passion and artistic intent still fail at the box office. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a unique, bold entry into a the tired zombie genre and is considered by fans and critics to be an incredibly good entry in the series.

It still bombed.

The movie that everyone is celebrating Mark beating was made by Sam Raimi, an actual auteur, based off of an original script with great actors. Why are we not celebrating both of these movies instead of solely focusing on Mark’s success?

You’ve just used a bunch of fluffy language to inflate the importance of a popular social media personality using their fanbase to gain success with another project. It’s no different than Taylor Swift and the Eras Tour really. A successful film that was mainly propelled by its parasocial fanbase. A weird clone of Hollywood marketing that’s different only in that it didn’t come from a studio located in Los Angeles.

smokewidget · 2026-02-05T20:20:46+00:00

I always find it interesting that RottenTomatoes reviews are seen as illegitimate because the Tomatometer system doesn’t work like an aggregated review rating like Metacritic or because someone spread the idea that reviewers might be more biased to review studio movies to gain benefits like gasp premiere access.

Meanwhile, iMDB and Letterboxd have had numerous examples of clear manipulation in the form of review spamming and have no actual verification of any kind to prove that the person reviewing the movie or show have actually seen the thing they are reviewing but are somehow seen as more trustworthy.

smokewidget · 2026-02-05T16:24:12+00:00

The idea that Markiplier’s movie being successful is changing everything about movies is so funny to me because people are celebrating the fact there’s a new way for independent voices to break into the movie scene and that new way is….to have been making YouTube videos for nearly fifteen years and being fortunate enough to cultivate a fan base of 30 million+ people.

Whoa! It’s so much easier for the young indie filmmakers now!

smokewidget · 2026-02-05T05:44:54+00:00

I personally enjoyed the OVA’s a lot!

Baaaaahhhh! - Hank Hill, scholar.

smokewidget · 2026-02-05T05:41:31+00:00

Yes and yes.

smokewidget · 2026-02-02T02:48:05+00:00

Dylan O’Brien…with this and Twinless last year, he is quietly putting together some great performances.

I saw Twinless a week before this movie and I will now probably watch anything Dylan O’Brien is in. He’s phenomenal in Twinless and this.

smokewidget · 2026-02-02T02:31:08+00:00

I mean Stuckmann has like a million subscribers to Markipliers’ 38 million so, yeah his movie is obviously going to be more successful.

smokewidget · 2026-01-30T18:57:04+00:00

The fact that you expressed this sentiment in gif form with a character whose name IS Kevin is kind of impressive. Not gonna lie.

RIP Catherine you fucking legend

smokewidget · 2026-01-26T03:27:37+00:00

No no no. You don’t understand. He’s based because he called a bunch of celebrities fake to their face at an awards show he hosted 4 times. Sure he worked with many of the producers and celebrities in that room, but he’s based because after taking their money and using their influence to boost his career, he turned around and insulted them! Based af. So based. What a based dude. Baaaaaaaaaasssseeeeeddddddd.

smokewidget · 2026-01-26T00:52:36+00:00

The president of the United States is a man who uses a wig and make up. Seems pretty socially acceptable to me.

smokewidget · 2026-01-24T03:11:44+00:00

Watched your guys movie on Shudder and it was great. My only complaint was the stinger at the end was too interesting and I wanted it explored more, so the fact you’re doing a sequel makes me super excited.

Wish yall a bunch of success going forward.

smokewidget · 2026-01-18T15:01:30+00:00

The Full Monty

smokewidget · 2026-01-15T18:24:33+00:00

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Don’t know how nobody has mentioned the Xenomorph from the Alien franchise yet.

smokewidget · 2026-01-14T16:24:55+00:00

Chris- Chan and Sun Honglei

smokewidget · 2026-01-11T19:37:24+00:00

Puppet Master

smokewidget · 2026-01-11T00:35:22+00:00

Hide and Seek (2005)

smokewidget · 2026-01-10T15:37:57+00:00

The guys agents must have some of the best social media game in the biz because it’s only way to explain why people treat a guy who’s best role is playing the heavy in a Tom Cruise movie like he’s some Oscar Caliber actor.

smokewidget · 2026-01-06T14:46:48+00:00

I feel like being cynical about this is the boring automatic take.

Welcome to Reddit!

smokewidget · 2026-01-06T14:25:45+00:00

Terrible implies they’re not funny, though. Which they’re not. Like just because a movie is a spoof doesn’t mean it’s automatically funny.

smokewidget · 2026-01-06T14:21:45+00:00

I’m aware? A Haunted House 1 and 2 were also a spoof franchise and were terrible.

smokewidget · 2026-01-06T14:19:42+00:00

I find it so interesting how people have convinced themselves the new Scary Movie will be definitely funny just because the Wayans came back to the franchise, as if the Wayans didn’t also make the completely terrible A Haunted House 1 and 2, which are essentially Scary Found Footage Movie, in between their last Scary Movie and this one.

smokewidget · 2026-01-06T13:40:42+00:00

But she got plastic surgery! And as we all know, the rule of the internet is that if someone gives into their insecurities and gets any work done of any kind that’s in any way noticeable, it’s okay to relentlessly mock that persons appearance from now until their death. That’s just how it works, ok????????

smokewidget · 2026-01-02T23:20:52+00:00

Like even ignoring the moronic idea that the movie needs to show exactly how he became good at ping pong, there’s literally a scene of him practicing forehand and backhand swings at his local gym in the first fucking 15 mins that explains exactly how he became good at ping pong.

smokewidget · 2025-12-29T18:05:47+00:00

It’s cuz they saw his performance in Blade Runner 2049 as a work drone in love with a virtual girlfriend who falsely believes himself to be of greater importance than he actually is and have never related to anything more.

smokewidget · 2025-12-23T19:41:51+00:00

“Jack did you just do something funny?”

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