YouTubers Top Box Office As 'Backrooms' And 'Obsession' Draw Gen Z
Low-budget horror films by Kane Parsons and Curry Barker led the weekend, with Backrooms opening to $81.5 million domestically and Obsession reaching $104.7 million domestically.
Los Angeles TimesMove over, Grogu. Internet culture soars as 'Backrooms' and 'Obsession' top the box office
CNNYouTubers are setting box office records. It could change the future of moviemaking | CNN Business
DeadlineHow 'Backrooms' Blew Doors Off Box Office With $118M WW Opening
TechCrunchThis weekend’s two biggest movies were both directed by YouTubers | TechCrunch
Overview
A24's Backrooms opened to about $81.5 million in the U.S. and Canada and has made $118 million worldwide, studio estimates said.
Both films were directed by YouTubers Kane Parsons, 20, and Curry Barker, 26, and were made for about $10 million and less than $1 million respectively, one report said the latter cost roughly $750,000.
A24 said Parsons is the youngest filmmaker to finish No. 1 at the weekend box office, and Focus Features said Obsession is the first film since 1982 to grow in both its second and third weekends, officials said.
Obsession has now grossed $104.7 million domestically and $148 million worldwide, industry data show.
Industry experts said studios are likely to pursue more creators from online platforms to replicate the YouTube-to-movie model.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame this as a youth-led revival of theaters, using celebratory language ("astonishing," "new great hope"), privileging studio and exhibitor voices and Comscore analysis, and emphasizing age-skewed exit polls and record box-office figures. Editorial choices minimize skepticism or longer-term context, creating a momentum-driven success narrative.