🎧 A24’s ‘Backrooms’ and the Rise of YouTube Filmmakers

What do box office breakouts like Kane Parsons’ sensation and Focus’ ‘Obsession’ mean for the future of moviegoing?

 
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The Ankler Agenda Podcast

🎧 A24’s ‘Backrooms’ and the Rise of YouTube Filmmakers

What do box office breakouts like Kane Parsons’ sensation and Focus’ ‘Obsession’ mean for the future of moviegoing?

By The Ankler Thursday, June 4, 2026

“I would not be feeling good right now if I was sitting in my corner office over at Disney after this weekend,” one source tells Like & Subscribe’s Natalie Jarvey about the box office success of Backrooms and Obsession — two movies from popular YouTube creators-turned-filmmakers Kane Parsons and Curry Barker, respectively. Both low-budget breakouts leapfrogged over Star Wars’ The Mandalorian and Grogu last weekend, raising questions about what this unprecedented success says about moviegoing’s future and Gen Z taste. Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie dive into the YouTube revolution, then examine the growing disconnect between what Hollywood is saying about AI in public vs. how it’s using it — and how even cinema giants like Martin Scorsese are coming around. (For an inside look at the next gen of horror, listen to Natalie’s conversation at NAB Show with Atomic Monster’s Michael Clear, Mark Fischbach aka Markiplier and M3GAN writer Akela Cooper.)



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