Two low-budget movies – each made by first-time filmmakers in their 20s – are the talk of Generation Z. And Hollywood.
Curry Barker’s “Obsession,” released in May, was the first movie since “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” to successively earn more money during each of its first three weekends. Kane Parsons’ “Backrooms” had an $81 million opening weekend and has now outperformed “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” another May release.
The two horror films aren’t short on scares. But their audiences seem to have an even bigger fear of missing out. For Gen Z in particular, they’re “must-see” movies. These hits, as well as blockbusters such as “The Odyssey,” with its $124.5 million opening weekend, are bolstering what’s shaping up to be Hollywood’s best summer box office in the United States since 2023. Movie houses have been facing declining attendance figures since 2002.
Why We Wrote This
When box office sales plummeted during the pandemic, conventional wisdom held that members of Gen Z might not return to the movie theater. Instead, young people are both creating hit content and filling seats for the in-person experience.
But there are signs that cinemas are rebounding. Surprisingly, it’s primarily driven by young moviegoers, according to a survey by Pew Research Center. That’s a relief to Hollywood, which fretted that the pandemic had hampered Gen Z from developing a taste for going to the movies. The success of “Obsession” and “Backrooms” reveal that young viewers are demanding movies that are event experiences and also fresh and original stories.
“[The success of these films] has just confirmed that – as it has been for more than 125 years – the younger generations wanna go to the movies,” says Ross Melnick, professor of film and media studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
When pandemic restrictions on indoor gatherings in 2020 essentially eliminated the moviegoing experience altogether, movie ticket sales dropped drastically. Streaming services took off. Many viewers, especially those with families, now opt to wait just a short while for the convenient and less-expensive option of streaming movies on large TV screens at home. Many film industry analysts worried that Gen Z’s reliance on smartphones and their preference for short-form content would dampen their interest in big-screen outings.
But cinema enthusiasts say that moviegoing still offers an experience you can’t fully replicate in your living room. As many viewers of “Obsession” and “Backrooms” attest, the experience is heightened in the communal setting of a theater.
“The movie theater experience has become the hottest ticket out there,” says Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Rentrak, a data analytics company. “It’s somewhat unexpected because a lot of people had counted the movie theater out when they shut down in mid-March of 2020.”
Recent data from a Fandango survey shows Gen Z is now the most active moviegoing demographic. Case in point: When Logan Deree, a young IT professional, went to see “Backrooms” in Boston, it was his first movie in a theater since 2019. His last cinema outing was for “Avengers: Endgame.” Mr. Deree says films since then haven’t piqued his interest.
“I’m tired of the same ‘Star Wars’ movie,” he says. “I need something fresh, I need something original. ‘Backrooms’ was original.”
The story for “Backrooms” was inspired by online forums that were fascinated by the idea that empty spaces – such as the inside of an abandoned furniture store – could be liminal portals to hidden dimensions. The movie’s success has inspired Hollywood to search for other original stories online.
Movies made by Gen Z creators, who are attuned to what their generation wants to see, seem to be what’s attracting younger audiences the most, says Mr. Melnick.
“Obsession” is about a young man who wishes that the girl he has an unrequited crush on will fall in love with him. When his wish comes true, it has calamitous consequences. The storyline generated online buzz.
“‘Obsession’ has sort of become a conversation point,” says filmmaker Nathan Roberts, who has taught online film courses with the Harvard Extension School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
“Content creators are creating parody videos,” he says. “They’re doing their own kind of responses to the film, and they’re gaining a lot of views.”
For young moviegoers, original stories such as the recent hit movies “Project Hail Mary” and “Michael,” are a welcome alternative to a seemingly endless stream of franchise sequels, reboots, and spinoffs. That isn’t to say that big-budget franchise films are going away completely. “Toy Story 5,” garnered the highest grossing domestic opening weekend of the year so far. Its largest adult audience contingent consisted of young millennials and Gen Zers. Director Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” drew 50% of its audience from moviegoers ages 18-34.
Buzz is also building around Tom Holland’s fourth appearance as the masked web-slinger in the late July release “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” Resonant stories can still draw audiences, young and old, into darkened rooms to briefly leave one’s everyday surroundings and enter a whole new world. Just as people have been doing since the 1890s.
“The pay telephone is never coming back,” says Mr. Dergarabedian. “But the movie theater is never going away, as far as I’m concerned.”