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Two low-budget horror films directed by first-time YouTube creators have outperformed expectations at the box office, drawing significant attention to a demographic shift that industry analysts say could signal a turning point for Hollywood.
"Backrooms," produced by A24 and directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, earned $118 million in its opening weekend.
"Obsession," a Focus Features and directed by 26-year-old Curry Barker, has earned $148 million worldwide in just two weeks. This is especially impressive, since the film cost only $750,000 to make.
Together, the two films have drawn in younger viewers, a group that theaters have had trouble attracting in recent years.
According to a report by the National Research Group, Generation Z boosted box office revenue by 25% last year.
Industry experts say that most people buying tickets for these films in recent weekends were under 35, and many were even younger than 25.
Matthew Frank, associate editor at The Ankler, a digital media outlet focused on Hollywood, said the films are popular because they connect with younger viewers that big studios often ignore.
"They're breaking out with these films that are appealing to a younger demographic," Frank said, adding that this audience "normally doesn't really get spoken to."
Frank said that part of the problem is franchise fatigue. He explained, "Hollywood's problem, for a while, was saying, 'oh, it's young people,' when in fact it was because they were making the 10th installment in pre-existing franchises that were popular for their parents." He added, "When you make something that's for that audience, that's when they'll come out."
'Backrooms' origins
Parsons, who has 3.2 million YouTube subscribers under the name Kane Pixels, gained his audience by making a series of videos set in the same fictional world.
The idea started with a photo posted on an internet forum in 2019. It showed a yellow, empty room with no explanation.
Parsons, then a teenager, described the image as a "vaguely nostalgic and vaguely dreamlike but also very tangible science-fiction concept."
His YouTube video about a young man lost in a maze of hallways got millions of views in just a few days. This success led to a deal with A24. The movie stars Oscar-nominated actors Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve.
'Obsession' and Barker's path
Barker built up an audience of 1.1 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, "That's a Bad Idea," before showing "Obsession" for the first time at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2025.
The movie tells the story of a young man who gets his wish for someone to return his romantic feelings, but the results lead to the film's horror story.
Hollywood responds
Frank said that every production company and studio in Hollywood now wants to copy this model, not just for the profits but also because both movies were made with small budgets.
However, he warned that success is not just about social media fame. "It still requires just finding the great filmmakers, which can come from anywhere," he said.
The movie industry has struggled for several years due to increased streaming options, slow ticket sales after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2023 Hollywood strikes that halted production. This year, though, the numbers are some of the most hopeful since the pandemic.
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