Film history is often marked by seismic changes that seemingly come out of nowhere. Movies are just movies, and then a group of kids in the 1970s start making Jaws, The Godfather, Mean Streets, and Star Wars. Suddenly, movies are different. Then that’s the norm, a few decades pass, and another group of kids makes Clerks, Pulp Fiction, The Virgin Suicides, and Do the Right Thing. Movies are different again. Every generation has its shift. And we may have just had the next one.
The past weekend, several incredible things happened in a theater near you. Top of the list is Backrooms, a modestly budgeted horror film based on a YouTube series, from a 20-year-old director, making over $80 million in its first three days. Movies don’t make $80 million on opening weekend without some sort of incredible set of circumstances, but Backrooms did. An audience raised on YouTube Shorts and TikTok memes saw one of the most famous coming to the movies, and they turned out in droves. In one weekend, it just about outgrossed every other A24 movie ever. Ever.
The next thing is that, for the third weekend in a row, a horror film with an even smaller budget, Obsession, made more money than in its previous weekend. That was already an incredible feat in its second weekend. Something that hasn’t happened in years. But for it to happen on the third weekend? Well, that hasn’t happened with a traditional release since 1982. It’s proof that if you make a great movie, people will tell their friends about it. And, if that movie remains in theaters, people will make time to see it.
The third thing is that both of those films—small, buzzed-about, independent horror films from young filmmakers who rose to notoriety on YouTube—beat a Star Wars movie. Star Wars. The shining example of box office success. The franchise that touts the highest-grossing film in U.S. history. Its latest film, The Mandalorian and Grogu, was bested by these two R-rated films. Part of that is because word of mouth wasn’t that good for the film, but it certainly had a much higher awareness than the other two among people of all ages. Those people just aren’t turning up in the same way. So, for a Star Wars movie to get beaten on its second weekend, usually the second most successful weekend, by two R-rated movies with YouTube origins is shocking.
A few months earlier, another YouTube filmmaker, Markiplier, released his own movie, Iron Lung. This one, unlike Backrooms or Obsession, didn’t have a major studio behind it. The filmmaker just used his influence and audience to get it into theaters on his own, and it went on to gross over $50 million at the box office. A movie that most adults had never even heard of came out of nowhere and, just based on the passion of fans, became a hit.
And, wouldn’t you know it, Markiplier chose this past weekend to finally put Iron Lung online for fans to rewatch. What timing.
Plus, don’t forget the creators known on YouTube as RackaRacka—who used their real names, Danny and Michael Philippou, to make a pair of horror hits: Talk to Me, which released in theaters in 2023, and last year’s Bring Her Back.
These are huge, newsworthy events on their own. But when you put them all together? It’s something more. A weekend at the box office like this feels important. It feels noteworthy. It’s something we should celebrate and study because while the level of history is up for debate, there are many lessons to be learned.
Maybe it’s the realization that not every big, successful film has to be for all audiences. Backrooms and Obsession are both not for all audiences. In fact, they’re mostly for a very specific audience. One that Hollywood seems to forget with its nostalgic sequels and family fare. Young adults want to go out with their friends. They want to spend their money. And movies like this cater directly to them.
Or maybe it’s further proof that not every movie needs to cost $100 million. For decades, everyone in Hollywood has been begging studios to spend less on films. To get back to a time when a movie that cost $30 million could be considered a blockbuster with the right actor or poster. However, for a multitude of reasons beyond the camera, it can be very difficult to do that. Even a movie like Obsession, which only cost a reported $750,000 to make, then got bought for $14 million and then had however much spent to market it. It’s not like if it made $1 million, it would’ve been profitable. It needed to make significantly more. But that number is decidedly less than whatever the latest Spider-Man or Avengers needs to make to turn a similar profit.
So are filmmakers like Markipiler, Backrooms helmer Kane Parsons, and Obsession’s Curry Barker the next Spielberg, Scorsese, and Coppola? The next Tarantino, Smith, and Lee? Well, not so fast. Those older filmmakers only really became who they were with continued and increased success, both critical and financial. So to anoint this YouTube wave as the next big thing is a bit premature. But… maybe they are. And even that possibility is hugely exciting. When was the last time there was even an inkling that we could possibly be in the midst of the next great, historic shift in cinema?
Whatever the case, this weekend was special. It’s a weekend that, when the dust settles, these filmmakers and others make more movies, maybe grab a few Oscars, and become household names, that we can look back to and be like, “That was it. Late May 2026. That was when it all began.” Or, maybe, it’s just a great weekend for horror. However it plays out, we’ll be watching with great anticipation.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
