This Weekend’s Best Films Feature YouTube Sensations

This weekend signifies a vibrant shift from YouTube to top-tier horror films.

At the forefront of the box office is “Backrooms,” a movie inspired by Kane Parsons’ YouTube series that showcases eerie found footage from an unusual office setting (drawing from a 4chan thread) that challenges the laws of physics.

Directed by Parsons, “Backrooms” is expected to gross approximately $81 million at the domestic box office this weekend, establishing a new benchmark for independent studio A24, eclipsing the previous record of $25.7 million set by “Civil War” during its opening weekend.

In the second spot, “Obsession” is achieving something arguably even more noteworthy. With a projected weekend total of $26.4 million, the film (which explores a romantic yearning spiraling into chaos) has already surpassed its first-weekend earnings in its second week, with an additional 10 percent increase anticipated for its third weekend.

To put this in perspective, most wide-release films typically experience a decline of 50 to 70 percent during their second weekend. Last year’s “Sinners” was celebrated as an exceptional success for limiting its drop to less than 5 percent. Excluding holiday releases that tend to benefit from festive boosts, experiencing growth week over week is exceedingly rare. According to the Hollywood Reporter, “Obsession” is the first film since 1982 to exhibit growth in both its second and third weekends.

Like “Backrooms,” “Obsession” is helmed by a director who gained fame on YouTube — Curry Barker. His YouTube journey culminated (for now) in the hour-long found footage horror film “Milk & Serial,” which debuted in 2024. Barker has already wrapped filming on his next project and is set to direct a new version of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”

These two films follow the surprising success of “Iron Lung,” a video game adaptation that came out earlier this year. Directed by Mark Fischbach — also known as Markiplier on YouTube — “Iron Lung” grossed nearly $41 million domestically.

In a New York Times piece discussing the recent “YouTube-to-filmmaker phenomenon,” Mark DelVecchio, general manager of Rutgers Cinema, pointed out that “many YouTubers attempting to transition to mainstream cinema have struggled.” What sets Parsons, Barker, and Fischbach apart? DelVecchio highlights their “longevity,” despite their youth (Parsons is 20, and Barker is 26).

“Many of them have been producing content for a significant time, honing a loyal audience willing to follow their journey,” he added.

Both films outperformed the latest Star Wars release in seven years, “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” which is projected to earn $24 million this weekend.

By the way, while I haven’t had the opportunity to see “Backrooms” yet (fingers crossed for tomorrow), I have watched “Obsession.” I assure you, it does not disappoint — I watched most of the latter half with my hands over my eyes and may have even let out a few screams.

This article was originally published on May 30 and has been updated with the latest box office figures.