This weekend was one for the box office history books.

Movie theaters across the nation were jamming with Gen Z crowds, who showed up en masse for not one but two buzzy horror films. A24’s “Backrooms” collected a jaw-dropping, record-breaking $81 million from 3,442 North American theaters in its opening weekend. That’s as ticket sales for the Focus Features breakout “Obsession” jumped again in its third frame with $26.4 million from 2,781 cinemas — and crossed the $100 million mark domestically. Both movies were directed by YouTube stars and cost nearly nothing to produce, upending conventional wisdom about the necessary components for a hit.

“This should empower the industry. There’s a new audience, and they’re waiting for this kind of content,” says analyst Jeff Bock of Exhibitor Relations. “We knew indie horror was hot, but we didn’t know how hot. It’s actually competing with the big summer blockbusters.”

The original fare ruling is especially striking at the start of summer movie season, a period that’s usually dominated by major franchises. Yet Disney’s “Star Wars” spinoff, “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” suffered a catastrophic 70% drop in its second weekend, signaling the property isn’t catering beyond an aging group of core fans. Despite playing on far more screens, “The Mandalorian and Grogu” landed in third place on weekend charts behind “Backrooms” and “Obsession.”

Directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, “Backrooms” has earned $118 million globally so far. The psychological thriller has obliterated projections, with early tracking suggesting a $40 million to $50 million domestic debut. With a production budget of roughly $10 million, it’s already one of the most profitable movies of the year. Though a sequel hasn’t been announced, Parsons has already started toying with the idea of turning “Backrooms” into a film franchise.

“Backrooms” also set several box office benchmarks: It delivered the largest opening weekend ever for A24, crushing the record set by Alex Garland’s 2024 thriller “Civil War” with $25.5 million. It also ranked as the biggest debut in history for original horror, as well as the best start for a first-time filmmaker on a non-franchise film. Parsons is the youngest director, by far, to have the No. 1 film at the box office. The benchmark was previously held by Josh Trank, who was 27 when 2012’s “Chronicle” opened in first place with $22 million.

Based on Parsons’ hit web series, “Backrooms” follows a furniture store owner (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who finds a secret doorway that leads him to a seemingly endless stretch of nondescript rooms. When he disappears, his therapist (Renate Reinsve) ventures into the unknown to rescue him. Nearly 85% of audiences were under the age of 35, and more than 50% were 25 or younger, according to PostTrak data.

Parsons and Barker are part of a wave of YouTubers who have turned their talents to the big screen — and brought their enormous, youthful fanbases along with them. Earlier this year, YouTube creator Mark Fischback directed, self-financed and distributed the horror film “Iron Lung,” which earned a stellar $50 million against a $3 million budget.

“Whether or not this is ushering in a new era or a paradigm shift for the business remains to be seen, but this YouTube creator-to-big screen pathway should be viewed as complementary,” says Comscore’s head of marketplace trends, Paul Dergarabedian. “It’s a production pipeline that has not existed until now.”

What’s all the more impressive is that “Backrooms” and “Obsession” aren’t cannibalizing each other at the box office. In fact, “Obsession” rose 10% from the prior weekend, which was already up a stunning 39% from its solid $17 million debut. It’s defying box office norms as the first film since “E.T. The Extraterrestrial” in 1982 to see ticket sales increase in its second and third weekends outside of the holiday season, according to Focus. After three weekends of release, “Obsession” has grossed $106 million domestically and $148 million worldwide against a mere $1 million production budget. It’s already the highest-grossing domestic release for Focus, besting the tally of 2019’s “Downton Abbey” with $96.8 million in North America.

“Blumhouse-Atomic Monster has the No. 1 and No. 2 movies in the country this weekend, both made for almost no money. Theaters are packed,” producer Jason Blum wrote on Twitter. “What a time to be making scary movies.”

As “Backrooms” and “Obsession” generated the lion’s share of attention, “The Mandalorian and Grogu” tumbled to third place with just $25 million from 4,300 venues in its sophomore outing. Such a catastrophic decline signals the Force didn’t remain strong during the franchise’s seven-year absence from the big screen, though insiders at the company were aware “The Mandalorian and Grogu” could pose a challenge as the continuation of a Disney+ series.

So far, the “Star Wars” installment has generated $137.4 million domestically and $246.6 million globally. It’s found money in the eyes of cinema operators, who knew Disney could have dropped “The Mandalorian and Grogu” on its streaming service. For the studio, which produced the space opera spinoff for $165 million, movie theaters represent another revenue stream before the movie lands on Disney+ — not to mention the hordes of Grogu toy sales. Meanwhile, the company is hoping that next summer’s “Star Wars: Starfighter,” an original adventure directed by Shawn Levy and starring Ryan Gosling, serves as a fresh start for the franchise.

“Weekend two had to be big, but ‘Mandalorian and Grogu’ just crashed and burned,” says Bock. “That’s more of a reception of this film than the larger ‘Star Wars’ universe.”

With much of the attention on “Backrooms” and “Obsession,” two other new releases — Sony’s PG family comedy “The Breadwinner” and Focus Features’ war drama “Pressure — fell short of expectations.

“The Breadwinner” rounded out the top five on North American charts with $7.5 million from 2,352 theaters. The movie landed behind Lionsgate’s musical biopic “Michael,” which is in its sixth weekend of release. “The Breadwinner” stars Nate Bargatze, one of the world’s top-touring comedians, as a husband who agrees to become a stay-at-home dad when his wife lands a deal on “Shark Tank.” Audiences were much fonder of the film compared to critics, as evidenced by the “A-” grade on CinemaScore and the 28% on Rotten Tomatoes. Sony produced the film for $25 million.

“The movie is over-performing in the middle states of the country,” says David A. Gross, who publishes the box office newsletter FranchiseRe. However, he notes, “these [comedies] generally do not travel overseas.”

“Pressure” debuted at No. 7 with a soft $5.4 million from 1,829 venues. Although the film, a World War II drama, was set as counter-programming against the family-oriented tentpoles and horror hits, older crowds weren’t as eager to leave home. Ticket buyers who did venture out seemed pleased, awarding the movie an “A” grade on CinemaScore. Brendan Fraser portrays Dwight D. Eisenhower in “Pressure,” which takes place in the tense 72 hours leading up to D-Day.

“Michael,” which has demonstrated exceptional staying power since April, brought in $11.7 million over the weekend. So far, the Michael Jackson biopic has earned $339.9 million in North America and a mighty $851.3 million globally. It should soon outpace 2018’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” ($911 million) as the highest-grossing musical biopic of all time.

Next weekend could produce a horror trifecta with Paramount’s parody sequel “Scary Movie.” Then summer should be sizzling with Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi adventure “Disclosure Day” (June 12), Pixar’s “Toy Story 5” (June 19) and DC’s “Supergirl” (June 26). Meanwhile, July brings Universal’s “Minions and Monsters” (July 1), Disney’s “Moana” remake (July 10), Christopher Nolan’s historical epic “The Odyssey” (July 17) and Sony’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” (July 31). Box office watchers believe the four-month stretch, regularly the most profitable period for the business, could hit $4 billion for only the second time since the pandemic.

“Moviegoing is hot. ‘Backrooms’ and ‘Obsession’ are electrifying the market, and it’s sensational,” says Gross. “But the industry also needs the big summer productions and franchises to deliver.”

Woody, Odysseus and Peter Parker — the industry is looking to you.