Backrooms and – Jason Blum and James Wan trace how two unconventional horror hits—A24’s “Backrooms” and Focus Features’ “Obsession”—turned niche ideas into major box office wins, while they also tease upcoming projects including a “Blair Witch Project” reboot and Wan’s return
For two straight weekends. “Obsession” has stayed in motion—its box office intake rising weekend after weekend. as the numbers climb past the $166 million mark globally. In the same horror double bill—“Backrooms” and “Obsession” now stacked together in the audience’s mind—two different paths to mainstream success are taking shape. and the producers behind both are openly amazed it’s happening.
“Backrooms,” built from the internet’s sprawling creepypasta universe, is already earning $140 million and counting. A24 hired “Backrooms” director Kane Parsons to adapt his own I.P. a 20-plus episode YouTube creepypasta set inside abandoned. acid-yellow liminal spaces. into a “truly weird. conceptual horror movie.”.
“Obsession” started with a smaller spark and a bigger gamble. YouTuber Curry Barker wrote and directed the careful-what-you-wish-for possession movie for $750,000. Focus Features acquired it out of last year’s TIFF for $15 million. and the film is now credited with $166 million-plus global box office—along with two weekends straight in which the movie’s intake has risen.
The overlap between these stories sits at the heart of a conversation on IndieWire’s “Screen Talk,” where Jason Blum and James Wan—Blumhouse CEO and Atomic Monster founder respectively—talk through what each movie tried to do, and how it landed.
Blum backed “Obsession.” Wan is a producer on “Backrooms.” Even with the success now sharing headlines. their companies have worked through a complicated relationship behind the scenes: Blumhouse and Atomic Monster began a merger in 2022. but they’ve continued to operate as separate labels in conversation with each other.
Wan is best known for backing “The Conjuring” series, widely described here as one of the most profitable horror franchises of all time. Blum’s track record stretches back to “Paranormal Activity,” a found-footage favorite that helped define the modern wave of theatrical scares.
The numbers suggest their bets are paying off in a way neither pitch alone could guarantee. A24 took the YouTube creepypasta world and translated a distinctly liminal concept—abandoned. acid-yellow spaces—into a box office climb that’s now at $140 million and counting. Focus Features. after acquiring “Obsession” from last year’s TIFF for $15 million. watched it expand into a $166 million-plus global run. with intake rising for two consecutive weekends.
One thread connects the films even as they differ: both “Backrooms” and “Obsession” trace their origins to YouTube-era creativity. Parsons adapted his own 20-plus episode creepypasta for A24. Barker wrote and directed his possession film on a $750,000 budget. The success, now measured in eight-figure box office totals, is making the industry look at those starting points differently.
The conversation doesn’t stop at past hits. Blumhouse’s next steps also come into focus. The episode teases Blumhouse’s upcoming reboot of “The Blair Witch Project,” the first viral horror movie.
Wan, meanwhile, looks forward as well. He talks about returning to the “Saw” movies for the first time since he wrote and directed the original 2004 film.
Elsewhere in the same “Screen Talk” episode, other entertainment conversations move through the feed. It parses Martin Scorsese’s dabble in A.I. including that he recently employed the generative services of Black Forest Labs to develop storyboards on what appears to be his next film. “What Happens at Night.” The episode also weighs Oscar chances for “Disclosure Day. ” spoiler-free. with the note that reviews don’t hit streets until next week.
If “Backrooms” and “Obsession” feel like a rare kind of double bill—one that grows out of internet genres and lands in mainstream theaters—that’s exactly what Blum and Wan are unpacking: how conceptual horror can still find an audience. and how the next wave of scares may be shaped by the creators who built the weird worlds in the first place.
Backrooms Obsession Jason Blum James Wan Blumhouse Atomic Monster A24 Focus Features Kane Parsons Curry Barker Screen Talk Blair Witch Project reboot Saw 2004 Martin Scorsese What Happens at Night Black Forest Labs Disclosure Day Oscar chances
So the Backrooms thing is like already a movie now? I thought it was just memes and nightmares on the internet lol.
Wait “Obsession” made 166 million? But I saw like 2 trailers and didn’t even notice it was connected to any of the creepiness I like. Maybe I’m behind. Also $750k to start is wild.
Blair Witch reboot… so they’re just gonna recycle the same footage and call it “new”? I don’t get how that overlaps with Backrooms at all. Like Backrooms is liminal spaces, Blair Witch is woods, different vibe. But hey if it sells I guess.
I’m kinda confused because it says Blum backed “Obsession” and Wan is a producer on “Backrooms,” but then it also talks about the merger in 2022 like everyone’s the same company now? Either way the whole “internet creepypasta” to box office thing feels like it moves faster than the movies themselves. Also how is it rising weekend after weekend if they’re already at 140/166 million, like what do they count? Tickets? Or just vibes?