Obsession and Backrooms could change how movies get made (and it’s happened before)

Movie theaters are making a comeback this year. Part of that is thanks to tried-and-true blockbusters like Project Hail Mary and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which is first film of 2026 to cross $1 billion at the box office. But the more exciting development is that the smaller, independent movies have captured the imaginations of younger moviegoers. Backrooms, based on a 2010s-era piece of internet folklore, has taken in over $200 million on a budget of just $10 million. Obsession, a horror movie about love gone wrong, has made even more (for now) and cost even less. This is the kind of thing that gets Hollywood studio executives vibrating with excitement.