At the Produced By conference last weekend, the annual gathering of producers organized by the Professional Producers Association of America (PGA), Jason Blum celebrated victory. He and his partner, James Wan, were behind the films that took first and second place at the American box office, beating out Star Wars, which saw its box office take drop 69 percent in its second weekend.<\/p>\n
While Bloom spoke, 20-year-old director Kane Parsons previewed his horror film, "Backstage," in a historically themed opening. This weekend, the film grossed $81.4 million domestically and $118 million worldwide, setting an all-time record for a director his age, a record for an original horror film's opening weekend, and the biggest opening for A24 by a wide margin (the previous record was $25.5 million for "Civil War").<\/p>\n
Bloom compared what Parsons and his YouTube colleague, Curry Barker, creator of "Whiplash," are doing with their YouTube subscribers today to how filmmakers of the 1970s revolutionized the film industry. He noted that both are unconventional directors who didn't attend film school but were driven by an overwhelming desire to understand their audience and connect with them.<\/p>\n
\u00ab"Their hope, their desire, their dream is to make cool movies, and 'Behind the Scenes' and 'Obsession' are bold, weird, and fucking crazy movies," Bloom said at the Produced By event. "It feels like we're back in the '70s, and a new generation of young people is making bold movies that are resonating in theaters in incredible ways. A lot of young people who grew up in a time where you couldn't go to the movies, and they didn't have anything that would allow them to get off their iPads and go to the movies, suddenly they're getting two movies\u2026 There's fucking hope in the film industry, and it's exciting, it's great, and this generation of people, everyone's on Instagram, everyone's on social media, basically internet stars, they want to make movies.".<\/p>\n
Blum is right about the audience for Behind the Scenes. More than 86 percent of viewers were under 35, with two-thirds under 25. These figures are higher than those of A24, higher than the audience for their highest-grossing film of all time, Marty Supreme, and comparable to those of another Blumhouse hit, Five Nights at Freddy's.<\/p>\n
\u00ab"Behind the Scenes" is also technically intellectual property, as Parsons' original YouTube shorts, inspired by creepypasta from Reddit and 4chan, already had an audience and fan base. But A24 reported that while 58 percent of moviegoers came to the theater because of the story behind "Behind the Scenes," more than 50 percent said the fact that it was an A24 film was their primary reason for attending.<\/p>\n
Like "Obsession" before it, "Backrooms" wasn't entirely aimed at YouTube's core audience, suggesting its popularity is unlikely to wane after such an impressive first week.<\/p>\n
The success story of "Behind the Scenes" isn't exactly identical to that of "Obsession," another YouTuber film that achieved unexpected success, but the two films are inextricably linked. After "Obsession" achieved the impossible by rising 39 percent in its second weekend, its box office took off again, increasing another 10 percent in the US to $26.4 million. Bloom of Produced By claimed that this hadn't been seen since "E.T." To date, the film has grossed $148 million worldwide and is already Focus Features' highest-grossing film of all time.<\/p>\n
Whiplash was also aimed at a younger audience that hadn't been reached by other blockbusters. This isn't exactly a criticism of sequels and intellectual property, as films like The Devil Wears Prada 2 are still making huge profits, and others like Toy Story 5, Supergirl, and Scary Movie are still to come. But for some reason, young audiences return to these films and respond to them differently than they did to The Mandalorian and Grogu.<\/p>\n
Smart studios are purposefully pursuing this audience and don't treat it as an anomaly. They engage with audiences where they are, using advertising campaigns on TikTok, Discord, Fortnite, YouTube, and other platforms. And directors like Parsons, Barker, and Markiplier, who released "The Iron Lung" earlier this year, are actively targeting their fans in ways that are distinct from the rise of the New Hollywood filmmakers of the 1970s or the music video-making punk rockers of Generation X.<\/p>\n
Even though A24 is considering a Behind the Scenes franchise, and Barker was offered a role in his next film without even seeing it, it wouldn't be surprising if Hollywood, as it has repeatedly done, learns a lot of the wrong lessons from the work of the new generation of filmmakers. We'll likely see far more horror films based on internet content, risky projects featuring other YouTubers who may not have the same talent as, say, Parsons, and more sequels to the same few ideas, rather than constantly searching for new ones.<\/p>\n
But it was precisely this weekend that film historians will long remember as a moment of change in the industry, when it became clear that Generation Z wanted something new and different from films. Now Hollywood must respond.<\/p>\n
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