Backrooms $81M and Obsession $26M Top Box Office

A remarkable shift in audience preferences dominated the North American box office this past weekend, as two low-budget horror films dramatically outperformed a major studio franchise release. The films "Backrooms" and "Obsession" claimed the top two spots, while Disney's "The Mandalorian and Grogu" experienced a steep decline in its second week.

"Backrooms," distributed by A24, earned an estimated $81 million domestically in its opening weekend, setting a new record for the studio. The film, directed by 20-year-old YouTube creator Kane Parsons and based on his online series, reportedly cost under $10 million to produce. It also achieved the largest debut ever for an original horror film and the biggest opening for a first-time filmmaker on a non-franchise movie. Industry data indicated that a significant majority of the opening weekend audience was under the age of 35.

Close behind, Focus Features' "Obsession" continued its unprecedented commercial run. In its third weekend, the film's ticket sales increased again, grossing an estimated $26.4 million and crossing the $100 million mark domestically. The microbudget film, directed by another YouTube creator, Curry Barker, was...