Over the past week, one conversation has dominated Hollywood executive lunches and studio staff meetings: What’s the next “Backrooms”?
The industry is scrambling to figure out how to replicate the phenomenon of “Obsession” and “Backrooms,” low-budget psychological horror films directed by YouTube creators that have dominated the box office over the past two weeks.
But “Backrooms” producer Peter Chernin, whose production company cofinanced the film, said he thinks the rush to sign deals with YouTube creators is a “big mistake.”
“It’s no different than making sequels. It’s jumping on an existing bandwagon,” Chernin said in an interview. “I guarantee you 80% will be failures. It involves no originality, it involves no innovation. Your job is to innovate, and your job is to look for fresh IP [intellectual property] and fresh voices. It’s not to just jump on a bandwagon.”
Chernin has a unique background spanning traditional Hollywood as well as the YouTube creator space. He ran Fox’s movie and TV divisions from 1996 to 2009, overseeing box office juggernauts including “Titanic” and “Avatar.”
Chernin went on to found a private equity firm, The Chernin Group, in 2010, which backed a number of companies in the creator economy space, including Fullscreen and Tumblr. In 2022 he cofounded North Road, a global content studio. Its Chernin Entertainment division coproduced and cofinanced “Backrooms” with independent film studio A24.
“We are consistently looking for what’s new, what’s interesting, and where the world is going,” Chernin said. “I think that YouTube background gave us unique insights into doing this movie.”
“Backrooms,” with a budget of just $10 million, has found particular success with younger audiences who were familiar with director Kane Parson’s YouTube series, which inspired the film. In the film’s first weekend in theaters, 86% of ticket buyers were under the age of 35, according to an audience survey by Comscore Movies and Screen Engine PostTrak.
“Backrooms” crossed $100 million at the domestic box office in just six days, becoming the highest-grossing domestic film ever for A24.
Basing a movie on established IP is a familiar strategy in Hollywood, where superheroes, popular book series or even toys like Barbie have proven to be a reliable way to draw audiences. Since 2010, most of the top performing domestic releases have been based on established IP, but box office experts warn audiences are getting franchise fatigue, and some high-profile sequels have fallen flat.
While “Backrooms” and Parsons had an established fanbase, building a movie on YouTube content is unusual. Chernin said the concept feels authentic and fresh on the big screen, making it distinct from decades-old franchises.
“Hollywood has been guilty of being a little bit cynical and essentially creating a brand management sort of manufacturing process, consistently feeding audiences a diet of sequels,” Chernin said. “One of the things that really resonated is that this feels like a movie with young people’s IP. What it says more than anything is that audiences are looking for freshness. They’re looking for something that feels unique and original.”
While the box office still lags prepandemic levels, the phenomenon of “Backrooms” and “Obsession,” which was shot for a budget of $750,000 and has also earned more than $100 million domestically, has Hollywood insiders and analysts asking how studios should change strategy.
Eric Handler, a media and entertainment analyst at Roth, agrees that younger generations have growing fatigue with franchise films and sequels, as evidenced by the disappointing opening of Disney’s latest Star Wars offshoot “The Mandalorian and Grogu.”
“Younger people still want to go to the movies. They like that communal experience, but they’re looking for something a bit different,” Handler said. “They’re saying you don’t need to make a $250 million movie to get me interested. Come up with an interesting concept that resonates with me and we’ll go.”
Handler said he now expects studios to cast a wider net for content. “Clearly there’s an opportunity here, especially if you can do these movies at a very low budget,” he said.
Chernin said the success of “Backrooms” is a sign that movie studios should take more risks.
“Risk is ultimately the lifeblood of success. Hollywood has gotten itself into a mentality over the past 10 years where risk has been looked at as being reckless,” Chernin said. “You have to try and figure out a way to do it at the right budget, but risk is important, and risk is the biggest upside in the world.”
