Details:
This summer didn’t belong to Nolan or Spielberg. It belonged to two YouTube directors nobody had heard of a year ago.
Curry Barker, 26, released Obsession on a $750,000 budget. It has grossed over $334M globally in six weekends — Focus Features’ highest-grossing film ever, and the first movie since Spielberg’s own E.T. to see its second and third weekends rise instead of fall.
Kane Parsons, 21, followed with Backrooms — $10M budget, $81.4M opening weekend, $276.9M global haul. The biggest opening in A24 history. Parsons is now the youngest filmmaker ever to top the domestic box office.
- Spielberg praised both directors and said he “loved” Obsession — noting he was also in his 20s when Jaws became the first summer blockbuster.
- Young audiences know Spielberg’s films. Most just discovered them through their parents, not an algorithm.
- What Gen Z actually wants, according to those interviewed: a director who replies on Instagram, a cast of unknowns, a story that feels like someone cared more about the script than the visual effects budget.
- Marvel fatigue is real. CGI overload is real. Barker and Parsons arrived at exactly the right moment.
What to watch:
Whether Obsession and Backrooms are a moment or a model. If studios start greenlit low-budget originals from internet-native directors, this summer may be remembered as the turning point. If not, it stays a great anomaly.
