A new Hollywood? Why budget films are making millions while blockbusters flop

TWO LOW-BUDGET HORROR films Backrooms and Obsession, have made huge profits at the box office since their release, while traditional blockbusters like Amazon’s Masters of the Universe and Disney’s latest Star Wars instalment flopped.

In the UK and Ireland, Obsession is still ranking in second place at the box office five weeks after its release. Meanwhile, Backrooms is in fourth place and well ahead of the Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, a film released the same week as it.

Obsession has made over €15 million in box office in the UK and Ireland, and Backrooms has made over €12 million.

Brian Lloyd, host of the Screenland podcast, said the films signal the “birth of a New Hollywood”.

Obsession, a supernatural psychological horror which deals with themes of consent and male entitlement, was the theatrical debut of 26-year-old director Curry Barker – and has already made 330 times its $750 thousand budget.

It has now made $297 million (€259.14 million) worldwide, making it the highest grossing film ever made by the studio Focus Features.

Time-bending science fiction horror Backrooms is an adaptation of a YouTube series made by 20-year-old director Kane Parson. It is now A24′s highest grossing film of all time, after making over $262 million despite being made on a budget of $10 million.

In comparison, Masters of The Universe has only made $120 million worldwide – around $50 million less than its $170 million budget.

But how did these budget films made by young directors outperform blockbusters with huge budgets, and what does it mean for Hollywood?

‘Speaking directly to Gen Z’

Speaking to The Journal, film critic Brian Lloyd said one of the main reasons behind the popularity of the films is that they “actually have something to say” about the world.

“It’s speaking directly to Gen Z and their experiences, and not in such a way that it’s talking down to them, but rather talking to them,” he said.

“There’s not been much in the last several years, where audiences have actually gone to see something and have felt the kind of visceral reaction that they get from something like Obsession and Backrooms.”

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Benefits of a shoe-string budget

Another factor he said led to Obsession and Backrooms popularity? The fact they were made on a low budget means the directors could be more creative.

“The more money that gets put into a film, the less experimental it can be,” he said.

The critic said films with big budgets have to be “as broad as possible” to attract a broad audience. “They can’t make it too weird, it can’t be too controversial. It’s got to be as appealing to everyone as possible.”

“When it’s made for a smaller budget, studios are more willing to allow something to be different and unique and have actually something to say. I think that’s what audiences are going to desire, films that have something to say, as opposed to just another $150 million (€130 million) CGI blockbuster”

It may not be a coincidence that both of these record-breaking films are horrors – a genre not typically as popular as others.

Lloyd said horror is “rich with meaning”. He adds: “I think that’s why people are responding to horror so much lately. Horror has so much to say about the world around us.”

“Very few films nowadays, whether it’s drama, comedies, or action, they’re not really saying all that much. They’re being very entertaining and funny, but horror gives us a way to process the world around us and make us understand it a little bit better, or at the very least relate to it in some kind of way.”

He said the young age of directors Barker and Parsons has helped them speak to the audience, but their films are also new and original, rather than a regurgitation of old ideas – a habit he said Hollywood has fallen victim to.

“There’s only so so many times you can watch Robert Downey Junior get hit in the face, before it’s just like, “yeah, he’s gonna get up and he’s gonna survive”. 

He said some of the major directors of the past few decades are now “running out of steam” and “repeating the same stuff over and over again”.

“What is the point of being Steven Spielberg? What is the point of being Ridley Scott if you can’t go out and make something completely fresh and original? You don’t have to prove anything anymore. You certainly don’t need any more money, so why can’t you make something new and fresh and original and different? I think part of that is because maybe they’ve said everything that they can say,” Lloyd said.

He said the recent popularity of Obsession and Backrooms represents the birth of a New Hollywood, comparable to that which happened when filmmakers like George Lucas and Brian de Palma entered the scene in the 70s.

“Hollywood is in need of new blood,” Lloyd said. “There is always going to be a need for new voices, new ideas, new ways of thinking, new ways of making films.”

According to Lloyd, this won’t be the last we hear of Obsessions and Backrooms – he thinks both films will be in the running for awards at next year’s Oscars.

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