Backrooms, a psychological horror film from A24, opened in 3,400 theaters in the United States and Canada and is projected to earn at least $60 million by Sunday. The film was directed by Kane Parsons, a first-time filmmaker whose YouTube videos have generated 342 million views. Backrooms cost about $10 million to make and stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve. Its projected performance is strong enough to outpace a major studio release expected to open in two weeks. The success fits a broader trend of breakout films from creators who developed their instincts on YouTube rather than through Hollywood. Obsession, directed by YouTube creator Curry Barker, has earned $74 million in North America and is projected to reach $100 million, despite a low $750,000 budget and no major cast names.
"Take Backrooms, a psychological horror flick that A24 released in 3,400 theaters in the United States and Canada on Thursday. Directed by Kane Parsons a 20-year-old first-time filmmaker whose videos have generated 342 million views on YouTube Backrooms is on track to collect at least $60 million by the end of Sunday, according to box office analysts. To put a result of that size into context, Steven Spielberg's latest science-fiction extravaganza, Disclosure Day, is expected to open to a not-insubstantial $35 million when it arrives in two weeks."
"A24 spent about $10 million to make Backrooms, which stars Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) and Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value). Universal Pictures spent an estimated $115 million on Disclosure Day, which stars Emily Blunt as a meteorologist suddenly overcome by an alien force. Backrooms is part of a growing wave of breakout films from fledgling directors who honed their instincts on YouTube rather than inside the Hollywood ecosystem."
"Two other creators with no Hollywood track record Curry Barker and Mark Fischbach have already turned online followings into surprise box-office hits this year. It's not an anomaly, Stephen Galloway, the dean of Chapman University's film school, said in a phone interview. It's the start of a gigantic shift. These are the cinematic insurgents of our era."
"Obsession, directed by Mr. Barker, 26, a YouTube creator known for comedy and horror videos, has collected $74 million in North America since its release two weeks ago. A comedy-horror-thriller mash-up about the perils of romantic fixation, Obsession cost $750,000 to make and has no boldfaced names in its cast. Analysts say it could collect an astounding $100 million by the end of its run."
Read at www.nytimes.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]