A rare scene has emerged on the North American weekend box office chart: the top two films are both directed by creators who first rose to fame on YouTube, and both belong to the horror genre. This demonstrates that video platform creators are transitioning from isolated cases to a more stable industry phenomenon as they enter mainstream cinema.
"Backrooms" opens with a record-breaking debut
Top-ranked is "Backrooms," a film directed by Kane Parsons, based on his earlier YouTube short film series of the same name, which centers on a surreal office space that defies the laws of physics.
The film is projected to earn $81 million at the North American box office this weekend, setting a new opening weekend record for independent studio A24, surpassing the previous record held by Civil War, which opened with $25.7 million.
Obsession has risen for three consecutive weeks despite market conditions.
Ranking second is "Obsession," with a projected weekend box office of $26.4 million. Rather than its strong opening, the film has drawn more attention for its sustained momentum, with its second-weekend box office already exceeding its opening week.
The report noted that the film is expected to grow by another 10% in its third weekend—an extremely rare trajectory among wide-release films, as most typically decline by 50% to 70% from their opening weekend to their second weekend.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Obsession" became the first film since 1982 to increase its box office earnings in both its second and third weekends. Director Curry Barker also gained popularity on YouTube before transitioning to feature films.
YouTube creators are rapidly entering theaters
This trend is not unique to this week. Earlier this year, the video game adaptation film "Iron Lung" also achieved unexpected success, grossing nearly $41 million at the North American box office. The film’s director, Mark Fischbach, is better known as the YouTube creator Markiplier.
Rutgers Cinema General Manager Mark DelVecchio told The New York Times that many YouTubers have previously attempted to break into the mainstream film industry but never truly established themselves. The common thread among Parsons, Barker, and Fischbach is the stable audience built through long-term content creation.
Based on this weekend’s results, these creators not only made the leap from platform content to theatrical feature films but also outperformed traditional blockbusters commercially. Both films surpassed the box office of The Mandalorian and Grogu, which is projected to earn approximately $24 million this weekend.