‘Backrooms’ Is Part of a Boomlet in Movies From YouTube Creators

Hollywood spent a decade asking if YouTube fame could translate to the box office.

Lately, it has been getting a very loud answer.

Take “Backrooms,” a psychological horror flick that A24 released in 3,400 theaters in the United States and Canada on Thursday. Directed by Kane Parsons — a 20-year-old first-time filmmaker whose videos have generated 342 million views on YouTube — “Backrooms” is on track to collect at least $60 million by the end of Sunday, according to box office analysts.

To put a result of that size into context, Steven Spielberg’s latest science-fiction extravaganza, “Disclosure Day,” is expected to open to a not-insubstantial $35 million when it arrives in two weeks. A24 spent about $10 million to make “Backrooms,” which stars Chiwetel Ejiofor (“12 Years a Slave”) and Renate Reinsve (“Sentimental Value”). Universal Pictures spent an estimated $115 million on “Disclosure Day,” which stars Emily Blunt as a meteorologist suddenly overcome by an alien force.

“Backrooms” is part of a growing wave of breakout films from fledgling directors who honed their instincts on YouTube rather than inside the Hollywood ecosystem. Two other creators with no Hollywood track record — Curry Barker and Mark Fischbach — have already turned online followings into surprise box-office hits this year.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/29/business/media/backrooms-film-youtube.html