YouTube is now Hollywood's horror-film pipeline - and the new model for movie making

By Lukas I. Alpert

The box-office bonanza over the weekend of YouTube-generated horror films 'Backrooms' and 'Obsession' is being viewed as a possible sea-change moment for Tinseltown

"Backrooms" set a box-office record for an opening weekend for an original, nonsequel horror movie.

The development pipeline for Hollywood just took a scary, but welcome, turn.

Two films that were born out of Alphabet's (GOOG) (GOOGL) YouTube and online culture turned into box-office smashes over the weekend, shattering records and perhaps setting a new model for how Hollywood movies are conceived and made in the future.

Leading the way was the buzzy horror film "Backrooms," which took in an eye-popping $81 million in the U.S. on its opening weekend and $118 million globally - the largest box-office haul by an original horror film ever recorded.

Created by 20-year-old director Kane Parsons, the film emerged from a popular YouTube series about being trapped in liminal spaces. It performed strongly among Gen Z moviegoers, an audience that Hollywood has long worried is shifting away from seeing movies in theaters.

According to exit polling, 50% of the film's domestic audience was under age 25, and 44% was under 21.

"Backrooms," which was produced by the indie studio A24, cost just $10 million to make. It's already a blockbuster hit.

Coming in second over the weekend was the Focus Features film "Obsession," which took in $26.4 million in the U.S. in its second weekend in theaters. Written and directed by Curry Barker - a 26-year-old film-school dropout who gained popularity on YouTube and TikTok - the movie has grossed $104.8 million in the U.S. and $148 million worldwide.

Both films beat out more traditional major releases like "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu," which came in third with $25 million in its second week.

The breakout success of "Backrooms" and "Obsession" point to an emerging model in which Hollywood is trawling online communities for stories and talent, forging a new concept of what kind of project can become a smash hit.

The concept for "Backrooms" was born out of a type of internet legend known as a creepypasta. In this case, the idea dated back to an urban myth that emerged in 2019 as a post on the anonymous message board 4Chan.

"These films reinforce a growing trend of younger audiences embracing original, creator-led, low-budget horror films that leverage influencer-driven marketing and creative risk-taking rather than franchise IP," media analyst Mike Hickey of Benchmark Research wrote in a note to clients.

The films follow in the footsteps of "Iron Lung" a self-produced sci-fi/horror film made by YouTube creator Mark "Markiplier" Fischbach that was a box-office smash after being released in January. The film cost about $3 million to make, but took in over $50 million worldwide.

-Lukas I. Alpert

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06-01-26 1236ET