There's expected to be a very active stream of horror films being released from YouTube this weekend.
Taking the top spot at the box office is Backrooms, a feature-length adaptation of Kain Parsons' YouTube series featuring eerie footage of a mysterious office space (taken from a 4chan thread) that defies the laws of physics.
Parsons's "Behind the Scenes" is expected to gross $81 million at the U.S. box office this weekend, according to preliminary estimates. This marks the biggest opening weekend for independent studio A24, surpassing the previous record held by "Civil War," which earned $25.7 million in its opening weekend.
Second-placed "Obsession" is arguably posting even more impressive results. While its projected weekend gross is only $26.4 million, the film (about romantic desire turned nightmare) already earned more money in its second weekend than its first, and is now expected to grow by another 10 percent in its third weekend.
By comparison, most films with wide releases typically see their box office take drop by 50-70 percent in their second weekend; last year's "The Sinners" was considered an unusually word-of-mouth success, as its box office drop was less than 5 percent. With the exception of Christmas releases (which, thanks to the holidays, tend to hold their positions longer), height A box office rebound from weekend to weekend is unheard of. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Obsession is the first film since 1982 to show box office growth in both its second and third weekends.
Like Behind the Scenes, Obsession is a horror film directed by a director who first rose to fame on YouTube: Curry Barker, whose YouTube career (for now) culminated in the hour-long found-footage horror film Milk and the Killings, released in 2024. Barker has already filmed his next movie and is set to direct a new remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
These two films follow the unexpected success of Iron Lungs, a video game adaptation released earlier this year. Iron Lungs was directed by Mark Fischbach, better known by his YouTube handle Markiplier. The film grossed nearly $41 million at the US box office.
In a New York Times article about the recent "YouTube-to-filmmaking boom," Rutgers Cinema CEO Mark Delvecchio noted that "many YouTubers have tried to cross over into mainstream film and failed." What distinguishes Parsons, Barker, and Fischbach? Delvecchio said that despite their young ages (Parsons is 20, Barker is 26), they all possess "longevity.".
«"Some of them have been making videos for a very long time now, and that's how you build a loyal audience that will follow you," he added.
Both films outpaced the first Star Wars film in seven years, The Mandalorian and Grogu, which are projected to gross $24 million this weekend.
By the way, although I haven't seen Behind the Scenes yet (fingers crossed that I will tomorrow), I I saw «"Obsession." So I can confirm that it didn't disappoint me at all—I spent most of the second half covering my eyes with my fingers, and I may have even screamed a few times.
This post was originally published on May 30th and has been updated to reflect the latest box office data.