\n<\/p>\n
The YouTube-to-prestige-horror pipeline is looking very strong this weekend.<\/p>\n
Taking the number one spot at the box office is \u201cBackrooms,\u201d a feature film expansion of Kane Parsons\u2019 series of YouTube videos<\/a> featuring eerie found footage of a mysterious office space (drawn from a 4chan thread<\/a>) that defies physics.<\/p>\n Directed by Parsons, \u201cBackrooms\u201d made $38 million on Friday, and is expected to bring in a total of $80 million to $90 million<\/a> at the domestic box office over this weekend alone. For indie studio A24, that\u2019s its biggest opening by far \u2014 the previous record was held by \u201cCivil War,\u201d which made $25.7 in its first weekend of release.<\/p>\n The number two film, \u201cObsession,\u201d is pulling off something that\u2019s arguably even more impressive. True, it made a mere $8 million on Friday, with an estimated weekend haul of $28.5 million \u2014 but the movie (about a romantic wish gone nightmarishly wrong) already made more money in its second weekend than its first, and now its third weekend is set to grow another 19 percent.<\/p>\n For context, most wide release films normally fall between 50 to 70 percent in their second weekend; last year\u2019s \u201cSinners\u201d was considered an extraordinary word-of-mouth success<\/a> because it fell less than 5 percent. Outside of Christmas releases (which have more staying power, thanks to the holidays), growing from weekend to weekend is unheard of \u2014 according to the Hollywood Reporter<\/a>, \u201cObsession\u201d is the first film since 1982 to grow on both its second and third weekends.<\/p>\n And like \u201cBackrooms,\u201d \u201cObsession\u201d is a horror movie directed by filmmaker who first made his name on YouTube \u2014 Curry Barker<\/a>, who released the hourlong found footage horror film \u201cMilk & Serial\u201d <\/a>on YouTube in 2024. Barker has already shot his next film and is set to direct a new remake of \u201cThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre.<\/p>\n The two releases follow the surprise success of \u201cIron Lung,\u201d<\/a> a video game adaptation released earlier this year. Directed by Mark Fischbach \u2014 better known under his YouTube account name Markiplier \u2014 \u201cIron Lung\u201d grossed nearly $41 million domestically.<\/p>\n In a New York Times article <\/a>about the recent \u201cYouTube-to-filmmaker boomlet,\u201d Rutgers CInema general manager Mark DelVecchio noted that \u201clots of YouTubers have tried to make the leap to mainstream movies and come up short.\u201d What sets Parsons, Barker, and Fischbach apart? DelVecchio said that despite their youth (Parsons is 20, Barker is 26), they all have \u201clongevity.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt this point, some of them have been making videos for a very long time, and that\u2019s how you develop a loyal audience that will follow you,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n By the way, while I haven\u2019t seen \u201cBackrooms\u201d yet (fingers crossed for tomorrow), I have<\/em> seen \u201cObsession.\u201d So I can confirm that it absolutely does not disappoint \u2014 I watched most of the second half with my fingers over my eyes, and I may even have screamed a few times.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n