The prestigious horror YouTube channel looks very strong this weekend.
The number one spot at the box office is “Backrooms,” a cinematic expansion of Kane Parsons YouTube Video Series with creepy found footage of a mysterious office space (taken from a 4chan thread) that defies physics.
Directed by Parsons, “Backrooms” raise approximately $81 million at the domestic box office this weekend only. It is, by far, the biggest release for the independent studio A24; The previous record was held by “Civil War,” which grossed $25.7 in its first weekend of release.
Movie number two, “Obsession,” is accomplishing something that is arguably even more impressive. True, the estimated total for the weekend is just $26.4 million, but the movie (about a romantic desire gone horribly wrong) already made more money in its second weekend than it did in its first, and its third weekend is now expected to grow another 10 percent.
For context, most wide-release movies typically drop between 50 and 70 percent in their second weekend; Last year’s “Sinners” were considered. an extraordinary word-of-mouth success because it fell less than 5 percent. Outside of the Christmas premieres (which have more permanence thanks to the holidays), growing from weekend to weekend is something unheard of. according to the hollywood reporter“Obsession” is the first film since 1982 to grow in both its second and third weekends.
And like “Backrooms,” “Obsession” is a horror film directed by someone who became famous on YouTube. curry thiefwhose filmmaking on YouTube culminated (for now) in hour-long found footage horror film “Milk & Serial” will be released in 2024. Barker has already filmed his next film and is set to direct a new version of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
The two launches continue the surprising success of “Iron Lung”, a video game adaptation released earlier this year. Directed by Mark Fischbach, better known by his YouTube handle Markiplier, “Iron Lung” grossed nearly $41 million domestically.
In a New York Times article Regarding the recent “YouTube-to-filmmaker boom,” Rutgers Cinema CEO Mark DelVecchio noted that “many YouTubers have tried to make the leap into mainstream film and have come up short.” What differentiates Parsons, Barker and Fischbach? DelVecchio said that despite their youth (Parsons is 20, Barker is 26), they all have “longevity.”
“At this point, some of them have been making videos for a long time and that’s how you develop a loyal audience that will follow you,” he added.
Both films were ahead of the first Star Wars movie in seven years, “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” which is on track to gross $24 million this weekend.
By the way, although I haven’t seen “Backrooms” yet (fingers crossed for tomorrow), have seen “Obsession”. So I can confirm that it doesn’t disappoint at all: I watched most of the second half with my fingers over my eyes and I may have even screamed a few times.
This post was first published on May 30. Updated with current box office numbers.
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