Backrooms vs – Two horror successes—A24’s “Backrooms” and Focus Features’ “Obsession”—are drawing major box office attention, but the industry lesson may depend on which path filmmakers choose: franchise-friendly IP or breakout originality.
The lobby chatter has the buzz of a rare kind of momentum—one that’s starting to feel like a “Victory Monday” for theaters.
A24’s “Backrooms” has already made history for the studio, landing the biggest opening in its history with $118 million worldwide. On the other end of the weekend scoreboard. “Obsession” kept climbing: it enjoyed a second consecutive weekend of increased ticket sales that pushed it across the $100 million mark.
It’s the kind of run that the film industry doesn’t see often anymore. and when it does. people lean in hard to ask what it means. A lot of takes have been circling the same idea—demand for fresh horror from young voices targeting Gen-Z audiences. Some analysts have also tried to connect the dots to franchise fatigue. pointing to a 69 percent drop for “The Mandalorian and Grogu” as a sign that audiences are turning away from established IP.
The urge to draw a single lesson is understandable. But treating “Backrooms” and “Obsession” as interchangeable evidence is where the story starts to blur—because they’re not built the same way, and studios chasing a shortcut could miss what actually worked.
Both films share some eye-catching similarities at first glance. Each is directed by a very young filmmaker—Kane Parsons is 20, Curry Barker is 26. Both also built followings on YouTube before stepping into theatrical filmmaking. And both rode a wave of box office appetite for fresh. high-quality horror. fueled by marketing that knew how to find an audience.
Where the similarity ends is exactly where the lessons begin.
“Backrooms” is an I.P.-driven franchise
For A24 and its partners, “Backrooms” plays like old Hollywood done with new inputs. The engine isn’t a bare new concept—it’s an intellectual property with a huge existing fanbase, expanded through its signature iconography and left open for sequels and spinoffs.
For the internet generation, the images are already familiar. The “Backrooms” concept traces back to a 2019 4chan thread describing eerie-looking rooms with jaundiced lighting and endless halls. That thread evolved into an open-source creepypasta, spawning countless creator variations.
Parsons has repeatedly said he didn’t create the concept and isn’t the only person telling “Backrooms” stories online. But his found-footage videos are the most recognizable version. He started uploading to YouTube when he was 16. and the series has become a major draw: the 24-episode run has racked up over 75 million views since 2022. Parsons’ channel, Kane Pixels, has over 3 million subscribers.
So even if the movie feels “new” to some theatergoers, it isn’t a low-budget proof-of-concept pulled out of nowhere. A24, along with producers like James Wan and Osgood Perkins, still took a meaningful chance on a young filmmaker—and they executed it in a way that connects with audiences.
The business model, though, is familiar. And “Backrooms” could push Hollywood to get smarter about where it looks for its next intellectual property. The parallel is not subtle: “Five Nights at Freddy’s. ” another Blumhouse project. stunned many insiders by dominating the box office even though teens had already been living with the games and the YouTube videos dissecting them.
The underlying idea is straightforward. If studios take bolder bets on what Gen-Z and Gen Alpha audiences are already watching—rather than only what previous generations leaned on—then this kind of franchise momentum doesn’t have to be a fluke. It can be planned for.
“Obsession” is an original indie breakout
Curry Barker’s route into horror looks different, and the difference shows up in what’s driving the box office.
Barker also got his start on YouTube. But unlike Parsons, he didn’t adapt earlier online work, and there isn’t much thematic overlap between his “that’s a bad idea” comedy sketches and horror. Those sketches are described as sharing more DNA with “I Think You Should Leave” than scary movies.
YouTube still mattered. It gave Barker a platform to practice filmmaking and build an audience, which helped translate into management and connections.
But the success of “Obsession” largely happened on the film-industry side of the equation. It was independently made for a budget of less than $1 million. Its rollout followed a more classic indie pathway: it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. resonated with audiences there. and sold to a distributor after a splashy bidding war.
From there, “Obsession” moved through fall genre festivals before landing a spring theatrical release. Now, Barker is shifting into an even more conventional next chapter. He has signed on to A24’s “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” reboot while shopping his own original projects around Hollywood.
If “Backrooms” proves the power of a built-in online universe. “Obsession” is the stronger case study for the idea that quality and originality still find an audience on their own. There are plenty of genre films with similar budgets and casts that fade away each year. but “Obsession” is working because the film itself is described as undeniable.
A comparison gets offered here: “Barbarian,” directed by Zach Cregger. Like Barker. Cregger came from comedy stardom. then jumped into major horror directing with a movie that was brutal. surprising. funny. and endlessly compelling. Barker’s YouTube following couldn’t have hurt. but the box office growth suggests the traction is being powered by word-of-mouth rather than simply a creator monetizing an existing fanbase.
There’s room for both
A film industry that only chases the next franchise would eventually run out of room for risk. And a steady diet of originals only works when the ecosystem is healthy enough to support it.
That’s why the takeaway isn’t that studios should pick one model and abandon the other. “Backrooms” and “Obsession” show two distinct paths—and a thriving business needs both. The former points toward franchise-building when online IP is already primed for attention. The latter points toward original breakthroughs when a film’s own reputation spreads.
The reader-friendly version is simple: filmmakers hoping to follow one of these successes can’t afford to mix the lessons into one story. “Combining the two unique films into a single narrative doesn’t help anyone.”
For now, both movies are still in theaters—“Backrooms” and “Obsession”—and the weekend numbers are doing the talking.
Backrooms Obsession A24 Focus Features Kane Parsons Curry Barker box office horror movies Gen-Z YouTube to theaters Five Nights at Freddy’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot