The success of “Backrooms” and “Obsession” has put two YouTube-bred horror directors at the center of Hollywood’s box-office conversation.
Two horror films from directors who built their followings on YouTube have become unlikely box-office standouts, adding new urgency to Hollywood’s long-running search for younger moviegoers.
Backrooms , directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, opened at No. 1 in theatres last weekend, earning more than $5 million Cdn in Canada and $118 million US globally, according to CBC News. Obsession , from 26-year-old Curry Barker, placed second and has made $150 million US worldwide since its release a little more than two weeks ago.
Their success is notable not only because both filmmakers are young and new to theatrical releases, but because their audiences appear to have followed them from online platforms into cinemas. Industry observers cited by CBC said the results could influence which projects studios are willing to back, especially in horror, where lower budgets and distinctive concepts can travel quickly.
Backrooms began as a 22-video found-footage YouTube series that drew more than 25 million views and developed a cult following. Barker, known for comedy sketches on YouTube, had already moved toward horror before Obsession , releasing the feature-length Milk & Serial on the platform in 2024.
Chris Ferguson, a Vancouver-based producer on Backrooms , told CBC he believed Parsons’ audience would make the jump to theatres because the film stayed faithful to the series. “I think the lesson is to stop underestimating the audience,” Ferguson said.
The box-office numbers are also sharpening the contrast between lower-cost horror and expensive franchise filmmaking. CBC reported that Obsession was made for $750,000, while Backrooms had a $10 million budget. By comparison, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu , released the same weekend as Obsession , had an estimated budget of $165 million and grossed $81 million as ticket sales declined.
Aaron Couch, film editor at The Hollywood Reporter, told CBC that the appeal lies partly in seeing a “strange corner of the internet” brought to a mass audience by a young filmmaker without traditional movie-star packaging. He also noted that Obsession grew in its second and third weekends, an unusual pattern for a modern release.
The audience data helps explain why the industry is paying attention. Exit polls reported by The Associated Press and cited by CBC found that 86 per cent of the Backrooms audience was under 35, more than half was 25 or younger and 44 per cent was under 21. For Obsession , 75 per cent of viewers were between 18 and 25.
That does not mean every YouTube creator is suddenly a safe bet for studios, or that online popularity alone can carry a feature film. But the twin performance of Backrooms and Obsession gives Hollywood a clearer example of how internet-native storytelling, built-in fan communities and relatively lean budgets can combine at a moment when some legacy franchises are struggling to feel essential to younger audiences.
The next test is whether studios treat these films as outliers or as evidence of a broader pipeline — one where horror creators who learn pacing, tone and audience engagement online can move directly into theatres without losing the audience that found them first.
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