‘Backrooms’ and ‘Obsession’ Disrupt the 2026 Summer Box Office

Key Points:

• Two breakout horror films, “Backrooms” and “Obsession,” directed by young filmmakers from YouTube and TikTok backgrounds, have redefined the summer blockbuster landscape by outperforming major franchise releases at the box office.
• “Obsession,” made on a $750,000 budget, has maintained a top-five box office position for five consecutive weekends and achieved the rare feat of increasing ticket sales in its second and third weekends.
• “Backrooms,” with a $10 million budget, became the highest-grossing film ever for its distributor, A24, within its first week and has stayed in the top five for three weekends.
• These successes indicate a shift in the industry, where original films by a new generation of filmmakers with strong social media followings are competing effectively against established franchise movies.
• The trend challenges traditional box office patterns, which typically see significant drops in ticket sales after opening weekends, highlighting changing audience preferences and marketing dynamics.