20 Recent Movies You Had NO IDEA Were Box Office Hits

There are surely many moviegoers who haven't even heard of Iron Lung, because beyond being a low-budget adaptation of an indie horror video game, it was written, directed by, and stars YouTuber Mark "Markiplier" Fischbach, who also self-distributed the film theatrically.

Markiplier opted not to market the film through conventional advertising channels, instead leveraging his own huge online following, enough that unless he was already part of your algorithm, there was a good chance you never heard anything about Iron Lung.

And even if you did, how many truly expected Markiplier's film to become a breakout hit on the big screen? Even with a small $3 million budget, this seemed like a film destined to perform better on streaming.

But Iron Lung has just crossed the $50 million mark worldwide, raking in more than 15-times its production budget - a phenomenal achievement any way you slice it, and a testament to what ambitious creators can do when they make smart use of their pre-existing fanbases.