How Horror Flicks ‘Obsession’ & ‘Backrooms’ Are Changing the Box-Office Game

Two horror movies are changing the game… going from the Internet to the big screen! 

“Obsession” has scared up nearly $350 million worldwide on a budget of just $750,000, while “Backrooms” has made over $300 million globally. Their 20-something directors both made history. 

“Obsession,” written, directed, and edited by 26-year-old Curry Barker, is the classic story of  boy meets girl, boy makes magical wish for girl to fall in love with him, and then girl becomes scarily obsessed.

Barker is a YouTube sketch comic who shot the story as a short called “The Chair” in 2023, which led to a big-screen adaption.

“Backrooms” started as Internet folklore about an endless maze of empty yellow rooms. It had a following online, and Kane Parsons, a young filmmaker still living with his parents, turned it into a 2022 YouTube short that has over 81 million views.

Variety’s Clayton Davis is breaking down the numbers behind the hits.

He shared, “'Obsession' has grown week to week every week since its opening. And what's interesting about that is, it's the first film to do that since Steven Spielberg's ‘E.T.' in 1982."