Shattering its already outrageous pre-release box-office projections, the new horror film Backroomsis breaking records as we speak. It's also working hand-in-hand with the holdover hit Obsession to launch what seems like a new era in not just horror, but in mainstream Hollywood as a whole. No one would have expected a movie made by a 20-year-old debutant to gross more thanOppenheimer in its opening weekend, but that's exactly what's happening with Backrooms. Directed by Kane Parsons, the film was initially eyed to gross around $25 million in its domestic debut, a number that subsequently ballooned to around $45 million, and then $75 million. Don't be surprised if it hits the $90 million mark come Monday's final report.

With his 2026 sci-fi horror film Backrooms, director Kane Parsons imagines a literal hole in the wall of a furniture store back room. Beyond the hole lies a series of unadorned rooms with maddening fluorescent lighting with no end in sight. While Backrooms is a major film with stars like Chiwetel EjioforandRenate Reinsve, this premise actually grew organically from internet creepypasta, which was the basis of Parsons’ YouTube series of the same name. The Backrooms concept began as internet posts of unsettling photos featuring liminal spaces, with various message board users adding their own contributions organically to the lore. Sometimes, hidden in the corners and shadows of these rooms, you could find threatening creatures, or “entities,” that seem to exist primarily as actual physical threats in the psychological void of the rooms themselves.

For years, YouTube has been a fertile ground for aspiring filmmakers, a place where they could demonstrate their skills outside traditional norms. While it has often been seen as unorthodox, this methodology is beginning to bear fruit. Recent films like Backrooms, Obsession, and Iron Lunghave proven to be some of 2026's biggest successes, and YouTubers like Kane Parsons, Curry Barker, and Markiplier are to thank. Backrooms has become A24's highest grossing movie ever, and Obsession is on track to become one of the most profitable films in recent years, earning over $200,000 on a $750,000 budget. However, it is the success of Backrooms that we've seen not just the director be the reason why, but the YouTube community itself.