Gen Z YouTubers beat Star Wars at box office: Backrooms, Obsession cross $100 million, eclipse The Mandalorian and Grogu

Two independent horror films - Backrooms and Obsession - made on small budgets - have beaten the new Star Wars film at the box office.

Jun 1, 2026, 09:27:31 IST

By Abhimanyu Mathur

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Two independent horror films directed by Gen Z YouTubers are currently ruling the global box office. Backrooms and Obsession, two horror films by first-time feature filmmakers, have crossed $100 million at the box office, snatching the top spot at the weekend box office from the latest Star Wars film, The Mandalorian and Grogu.

Backrooms and Obsession beat The Mandalorian and Grogu

Young audiences turned out in droves to movie theatres around the world this weekend as Backrooms, released by A24, made an astonishing $81.5 million in its first three days in North America alone, according to studio estimates on Sunday. Trade estimates said the film has minted $118 million worldwide in its opening weekend. Directed and co-written by YouTube creator Kane Parsons, Backrooms cost only $10 million to produce, making it immensely profitable in just one day.

The success of Backrooms didn’t even hurt Obsession, the directorial debut of another YouTuber, Curry Barker, 26. The acclaimed horror film was up 10% with another $26.4 million in North America, finishing second behind Backrooms. Obsession, made on a shoestring budget of under $1 million, has so far earned $104 million in the US and $148 million worldwide.

Indie horror trumps Star Wars' might

Together, the two indie horror films pushed The Mandalorian and Grogu to the third spot. The Star Wars adventure, starring Pedro Pascal, fell sharply in its second weekend, earning $25 million in North America.

The Mandalorian and Grogu fell around 69% from its opening last weekend. The movie has now grossed $246.6 million globally but is slowing. Michael Jackson's biopic, Michael, landed in fourth place with $11.7 million in its sixth weekend. The musical biopic has made over $800 million globally.

Is horror reviving Hollywood theatricals?

Abhijay Prakash, the president of Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, said that the weekend is both staggering and a validation of their business, which has, from the beginning, championed original horror movies that appeal to younger audiences and generated over $10 billion at the box office to date. “It’s a great sign of relevance for us. With some distance, we’ll probably look back at this as a real turning point,” he told AP.

“Everyone’s asking what’s the next big thing in Hollywood for movies, and what can bring people back to the movie theatre? And this may be it,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the head of marketplace trends for Comscore.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abhimanyu Mathur
Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More

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