How a YouTuber’s movie and Disney’s new CEO could reshape premium content

Something unusual just happened in the movie business — and no, it doesn’t have anything to do with the Warner Bros. sale.

Earlier this month, Iron Lung made over $18 million in its opening weekend. If you’re unfamiliar, you're probably not among Markiplier’s 38 million subscribers. The YouTuber self-funded and self-distributed the video game adaptation, getting it on thousands of screens and pushing his loyal fan base to buy tickets — an audience that typically gets his content for free.

Days later, Disney finally named its new CEO. Parks and Experiences chief Josh D’Amaro will succeed Bob Iger next month, capping off a yearslong succession search. D’Amaro doesn’t necessarily have movie and TV bona fides, but he was instrumental in landing the company’s deal with Epic Games to create a virtual universe in Fortnite around Disney IP. His promotion suggests Disney sees the future of its business in both digital experiences and traditional entertainment.

Taken together, these examples illustrate how the media business is changing amid technological disruption, and how premium content is no longer black and white.

“What does premium content mean anymore? There are viewers and readers that prefer a wide range of content in different formats across different platforms,” said Bob Mitchell, a marketing consultant and adjunct media professor at American University’s Kogod School of Business. “You have to meet consumers where they are. That is no longer about top down, but bottom up.”

The shifts impacting traditional content

Iron Lung’s box-office success and Disney’s D’Amaro’s ascension underscore two major shifts happening in the content space: the rise of the creator economy and technological innovation, particularly with AI and emerging platforms.

Regarding the former, Markiplier is far from the first online creator to branch out. Iron Lung isn’t setting a trend so much as reinforcing one. MrBeast, YouTube’s most popular creator, has a Prime Video game show. Ms. Rachel, whose children’s content began on YouTube, was Netflix’s No. 9 most-watched TV show in the second half of 2025. The pipeline between digital-natice creators and traditional distribution is no longer fringe — it’s becoming standard.

As for technological change, entertainment companies are toying with how to embrace AI. D’Amaro will now shepherd Disney’s deal with OpenAI, which licenses over 200 Disney characters for Sora users to access on the video app. Select videos will then appear on Disney+.

It raises questions for advertisers, but while AI slop has surged with few guardrails on social video platforms like YouTube, premium streamers are likely to have more restraints. Netflix, for instance, published guidelines for production partners for using AI.

“[If] you’re not anticipatory of how trends are changing, what’s interesting to people, you’re going to be almost definitionally behind,” Rick Rieder, chief investment officer of global fixed income at BlackRock, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Meeting fans where they are

If that all sounds a bit dystopian to you, whether you’re an artist or an advertiser, have no fear: Young people still love traditional forms of content. Gen Z  goes to the movies more than any other age group, according to the National Research Group. And the vast majority of Gen Z respondents to a survey last year want streamers to show them older content they’ve never seen before.

That’s why Brandon Katz, director of insights and content strategy at Greenlight Analytics, said that Disney and other entertainment companies “need to hyperfocus on what currently works and why,” while also “modernizing itself for the next phase of consumer and audience appeal.”

But the content distributors that win in the future will be the ones that “leverage fan bases and communities” to market and distribute content where they already are,” Mitchell said — whether that’s on gaming platforms or through vertical video, like Netflix is now testing.

Markiplier leveraged his online reach to move his audience from their in-home screens to seats at the movies. D’Amaro with deep experience in Disney’s parks division, may attempt something similar in reverse: translating physical-world experience into digital engagement. He will now oversee Disney’s deal with Epic, and he recently said he could envision movie premieres taking place within a virtual universe.

Kevin Mayer, former Disney exec and Candle Media co-founder, told The Hollywood Reporter: “[D’Amaro] sees the digital realm … as a very important place for fans to interact with their favorite characters, franchises and brands in a comprehensive way that you can monetize and that will serve fan interest in a way that, other than a theme park, it’s really impossible to do.”