• Markiplier announced at Cannes Film Festival that Iron Lung will be available on YouTube starting May 31, 2026
• The release will be a YouTube exclusive, with the film available to purchase on the platform’s Movies & TV storefront
• The self-funded horror film grossed over $51 million worldwide against a budget of just $3–4 million
• Markiplier used the profits to pay every cast and crew member a bonus equal to their original salary
• He also revealed at Cannes that he won’t start his next project until 2027, wanting to spend time with his wife

If you missed Iron Lung in theaters, your wait is almost over. Markiplier — real name Mark Fischbach — announced during a panel at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday that his self-directed, self-funded horror film will be available to watch at home starting May 31, exclusively on YouTube.

The choice of platform wasn’t a surprise to anyone who knows Markiplier’s story. YouTube is where he built his career, where his audience of millions first found him, and where he’s stayed loyal through every evolution of his career. “I’m pretty loyal to it,” he said simply at Cannes, and that was that.

The film will be a paid purchase on YouTube’s Movies & TV storefront — no subscription required, just a one-time buy. Pricing hasn’t been confirmed yet, but new digital releases typically land in the $19.99–$29.99 range. For fans who want something physical, Fischbach previously mentioned a Blu-ray release is also in the works, though no date has been set beyond the YouTube drop.

What Iron Lung Is Actually About

Based on the indie horror game by David Szymanski — the developer behind Dusk — Iron Lung takes place in a bleak future following an event called “The Quiet Rapture,” in which every star and habitable planet in the universe simply vanishes, wiping out most of humanity. The survivors cling to whatever manmade structures remain. When a moon is discovered with what appears to be an ocean of human blood, a convict named Simon (played by Fischbach himself) is sealed inside a decaying submarine and forced to pilot it through the depths in search of answers.

It’s as unsettling as it sounds. Polygon called it frighteningly “claustrophobic” and “immersive” at the time of its theatrical release, and argued the rest of the film industry should be paying close attention to what Markiplier pulled off. Fischbach didn’t just star in the film — he wrote, directed, produced, edited, and distributed it himself after larger studios either passed or tried to take too much creative control.

The cast also includes Caroline Rose Kaplan, Troy Baker, and Elsie Lovelock.

The Box Office Story Nobody Saw Coming

Iron Lung opened in theaters on January 30 with almost no traditional marketing spend. No massive ad campaign, no billboard blitz — just Markiplier’s enormous social media presence and an audience that showed up for him. The result? Over $51 million worldwide against a budget of roughly $3 to $4 million. It famously outperformed Amazon’s Melania Trump biopic at the box office, a detail that still feels almost too good to be true.

What Fischbach did with those profits is the part that really stuck with people. He told Lemonade Stand that he used the earnings to pay every single member of the cast and crew a bonus equal to their original salary. In an industry where profit participation is notoriously murky, that kind of move lands differently.

The film’s success has already had ripple effects. Fellow YouTuber Sean “JackSepticEye” McLoughlin has since been inspired to develop an animated Bloodborne movie of his own — proof that Iron Lung‘s subversive run wasn’t just a one-off moment, but something that genuinely shifted what people think is possible for creator-led films.

What’s Next for Markiplier

At Cannes, Fischbach was candid about his timeline — and refreshingly unbothered about it. He joked that he won’t be making another feature for at least a year, saying he wants to spend time with his wife. When he does get back to it, he teased that he’ll start “working on something” in 2027.

Iron Lung arrives on YouTube on May 31. The submarine is waiting.

The post Markiplier’s ‘Iron Lung’ Hits YouTube May 31 appeared first on Cream.

• Markiplier announced at a Cannes panel that Iron Lung will be available exclusively on YouTube starting May 31, 2026
• The film cost $4 million to make and grossed over $51 million worldwide with virtually no marketing spend
• Markiplier wrote, directed, produced, edited, and distributed the film — and stars in it
• He used the profits to pay every cast and crew member a bonus equal to their original salary
• Markiplier says he won’t be making another film for at least a year, wanting to spend time with his wife

If you missed Iron Lung in theaters — or you just want to revisit that ocean of blood — Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach has your date: May 31. That’s when his self-funded indie horror debut lands on YouTube, and it’ll be a platform exclusive.

Fischbach made the announcement Sunday morning during a Cannes Film Festival panel moderated by Deadline, and the choice of platform wasn’t exactly a surprise coming from the man who built one of YouTube’s biggest channels. “I’m pretty loyal to it,” he said simply, describing YouTube as his home.

The Little Horror Movie That Absolutely Could

By any measure, Iron Lung is one of the more unlikely success stories Hollywood has seen in years. Made for somewhere between $3 and $4 million — depending on which part of production you’re counting — the film grossed over $51 million worldwide after opening in cinemas on January 30. It had no real marketing campaign to speak of. No studio machine behind it. Just Markiplier’s enormous built-in fanbase, relentless word of mouth, and a concept compelling enough that strangers were apparently delivering impromptu TED Talks about it on the street after Nine Inch Nails concerts.

Larger studios had passed on the project or tried to take creative control, so Fischbach self-funded and self-released it in the U.S., partnering with Piece of Magic Entertainment for international territories across Europe including Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, and the Nordic countries. The gamble paid off in a way that made the industry pay attention — the film famously outperformed Amazon’s Melania Trump biopic at the box office.

Based on David Szymanski’s dread-inducing indie horror game of the same name, Iron Lung is set in a post-apocalyptic future after “The Quiet Rapture” — an event that causes every star and habitable planet in the universe to simply vanish, wiping out most of humanity. The survivors are left clinging to manmade structures in space. When a moon is discovered with an ocean apparently made of human blood, a convict named Simon (Fischbach) is sealed inside a decaying submarine called the Iron Lung and sent down into it to look for answers. It’s as psychological as it is physical, and Fischbach didn’t just star in it — he wrote, produced, edited, and distributed it too. Co-starring alongside him are Caroline Rose Kaplan, Troy Baker, and Elsie Lovelock.

What Markiplier Did With the Money

Perhaps the detail that’s resonated most with fans since the film’s release: Fischbach used the profits to give every single member of the cast and crew a bonus equal to their original salary. For a first-time filmmaker who self-funded the whole thing, that’s a statement.

The film’s success has also had ripple effects in the creator-to-filmmaker pipeline. Fellow YouTuber Sean “JackSepticEye” McLoughlin has since been inspired to develop an animated Bloodborne movie of his own — proof that Iron Lung‘s impact goes beyond just its box office numbers.

What’s Next for Markiplier

Don’t expect a quick follow-up. At the Cannes panel, Fischbach joked that he has no plans to make another feature for at least a year — he wants to spend time with his wife. After writing, directing, producing, editing, distributing, and starring in a film that he also personally bankrolled, that seems more than fair.

A Blu-ray release is also in the works — Fischbach confirmed back in February that a physical edition is coming, so fans who want it on the shelf shouldn’t have to wait too long after the YouTube drop.

As for pricing on YouTube, that hasn’t been announced yet. But if you’re ready to climb into the submarine, May 31 is your date.

The post Markiplier’s ‘Iron Lung’ Hits YouTube on May 31 appeared first on Cream.

• Horror is having a major creative moment in 2026, with studios embracing experimentation over formula
• Cosmic horror — think psychological dread over gore — is emerging as one of the genre’s most compelling subgenres
• Underseen gems like The Empty Man, Event Horizon, and Resolution deserve way more attention than they’ve gotten
• Markiplier’s passion project Iron Lung shocked everyone with a $50M box office haul on a $3M budget
• Whether you’re a horror newbie or a lifelong fan, there’s never been a better time to dive in

Horror is one of the oldest storytelling traditions we have — and right now, it’s having one of its best years in recent memory. We’re nearly halfway through 2026 and the genre has already delivered films that are socially sharp, genuinely strange, sometimes funny, and deeply unsettling in ways that stick with you long after the credits roll. If you’ve been meaning to get into horror, or you’re a longtime fan looking to fill in some gaps, this is the moment.

The genre spent a good chunk of the late 2010s and early 2020s locked into one dominant mode — internal suffering, trauma as metaphor, prestige dread. That era produced some genuinely great films. But 2025 signaled a turn, and 2026 has confirmed it: horror is looser now, more playful, less interested in fitting a single trendy mold. Studios are finally catching up to what horror fans have always known — that scary movies are one of the most reliable theatrical genres there is, and the storytelling potential is basically unlimited.

The Case for Cosmic Horror

If you want to understand where horror’s most interesting ideas are living right now, start with cosmic horror. Also called Lovecraftian horror, it trades gore and jump scares for something much harder to shake: the feeling that reality is a thin shell, easily cracked, and that the universe is indifferent — or worse, actively hostile — to human existence. Done right, cosmic horror doesn’t just scare you in the moment. It follows you home.

The Empty Man is the perfect entry point. Released in 2020 during the worst possible theatrical window — peak COVID — the supernatural thriller was quietly extraordinary and almost no one saw it in theaters. Based on Cullen Bunn’s comic book series and written and directed by David Prior, the film plays on everything you think you know about cults and possession, then dismantles it. Its 20-minute opening sequence is as good as anything in recent horror, and the ending delivers a genuine existential crisis. It’s found its audience on streaming — a respectable 73% on Rotten Tomatoes and a devoted cult following — but it deserves to be talked about in the same breath as the genre’s best.

Event Horizon had an even rougher debut. The 1997 sci-fi horror film — Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill battling a sentient, dimension-hopping spacecraft — landed in a crowded year that included Scream 2 and I Know What You Did Last Summer, and got buried. Its 36% RT score remains a crime. Paul W.S. Anderson directed from Philip Eisner’s screenplay, and the film’s dark, visceral imagery and its knack for weaponizing guilt and trauma against its characters have earned it genuine cult status over the decades. If you haven’t seen it, fix that.

Resolution, the 2012 mystery-horror from directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, takes a more meta approach — it’s essentially a film about the audience’s own hunger for a satisfying ending, using a sentient entity that traps its victims in a loop as a mirror for how demanding and hard-to-please viewers can be. Smart, unsettling, and armed with an 81% RT score and multiple festival wins, it uses photographs and video footage to deliver its horror rather than constant in-your-face violence. A single image, it turns out, can do more psychological damage than a dozen jump scares.

The Surprise Hit Nobody Saw Coming

Then there’s Iron Lung — arguably the most unexpected horror story of 2026, and not just because of what happens on screen. The film was directed, written, produced, and starred in by YouTuber Markiplier (Mark Fischbach), and it would’ve been easy to dismiss it on those credentials alone. Nobody did after opening weekend. The video game adaptation — based on David Szymanski’s indie game — follows survivors of an apocalypse searching for resources on a moon with an ocean of blood, and it grossed over $50 million against a self-financed $3 million budget.

The film leans hard into slow burn, practical effects, and 80,000 gallons of fake blood to build toward a genuinely gruesome climax. It’s claustrophobic in the best possible way. The 62% RT score undersells it — this is a movie that gets under your skin and stays there.

When Less Monster Means More Terror

One of the smartest tricks in horror’s playbook is restraint — and some of the genre’s most effective films barely show you the thing that’s supposed to be scary at all. The enemy you can’t fully see is almost always more terrifying than the one you can. Distorted glimpses, strange sounds, a character’s terrified reaction — these force the audience to fill in the blanks with whatever their imagination conjures, which is usually worse than anything a filmmaker could show. The best horror directors understand this instinctively, which is part of why films like The Blair Witch Project still work: the witch never fully appears, and that absence is the whole point.

Horror Rooted in Real Life

There’s a specific kind of dread that comes from knowing something actually happened. Horror films inspired by real events carry extra weight — the Lutz family’s experiences at the Amityville house, the Perron family haunting investigated by Ed and Lorraine Warren, the alleged 1949 exorcism of a boy known as Roland Doe that inspired The Exorcist. These stories blur the line between what we can explain and what we can’t, and filmmakers have been mining that discomfort for decades. It works because the horror isn’t just fictional — somewhere, it was real enough that people wrote it down and couldn’t stop talking about it.

Where to Start If You’re New to All This

Horror has been around since the earliest days of cinema, which means the archive is enormous and can feel genuinely overwhelming. The good news is that the genre rewards exploration — each film tends to open a door to five more. The black-and-white classics of the early sound era, the slashers of the ’70s and ’80s, the post-Scream self-awareness of the ’90s, the elevated horror wave of the 2010s, and now this current era of joyful experimentation — each cycle has its masterworks, and they’re all still there waiting.

Start with something that sounds interesting to you specifically. Cosmic dread? The Empty Man. Practical effects and claustrophobia? Iron Lung. Space-set psychological horror? Event Horizon. Real-life foundations? The Conjuring or The Exorcist. Meta-horror that makes you think? Resolution. The genre is bigger and stranger and more welcoming than its reputation sometimes suggests.

And if you want a guided tour through 2026’s best so far — including Lee Cronin’s The Mummy and the buzzy new indie Obsession from Alabama filmmaker Curry Barker — The Ringer’s The Big Picture podcast recently devoted a full episode to exactly that conversation, including a deep dive on which directors are running the genre right now.

Horror is unpredictable again. That’s the best thing that could’ve happened to it.

The post The Best Horror Movies You Need to Watch Right Now appeared first on Cream.