Internet culture is showing up in a big way in theaters, as low-budget horror films โBackroomsโ and โObsessionโ led this weekendโs box office and beat out big franchise films like โStar Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu.โ
A24โs โBackroomsโ topped the charts with $81.5 million in the U.S. and Canada in its opening weekend, according to studio estimates. The film is directed by 20-year-old YouTuber Kane Parsons, who based it on his internet series of the same name.
โBackrooms,โ which reportedly had a production budget of about $10 million, stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as a furniture store owner who finds a mysterious portal in his basement. The film made a total of $118 million worldwide.
In second place was Focus Featuresโ โObsession,โ which hauled in $26.4 million in its third weekend in theaters, up 10% from the previous weekendโs total. The film, which had a production budget of less than $1 million, has now grossed $104.7 million domestically for a global total of $148 million.
โObsessionโ director Curry Barker is also known for his YouTube sketch comedy channel.
The success of two YouTube-native filmmakers at the box office indicates the growing power of the platform โ and online culture as a whole โ in attracting audiences to cinemas.
Walt Disney Co. and Lucasfilmโs โThe Mandalorian and Groguโ fell to third place this weekend with a domestic gross of $25 million. Lionsgateโs musical biopic โMichaelโ ($11.7 million) and Sony Picturesโ family comedy โThe Breadwinnerโ ($7.5 million) rounded out the top five at the box office, according to Comscore data.