As a horror film double bill, “Backrooms” and “Obsession” have emerged as the box office success stories of the year.
A24 hired “Backrooms” director Ken Parsons to adapt his own IP — in this case, a 20-plus-episode YouTube creepypasta set inside abandoned, acid-yellow frontier spaces — into a truly strange, conceptual horror film that has now grossed $140 million and is steadily earning a fortune at the box office.
Meanwhile, another YouTuber, Kari Barker, wrote and directed the original be-care-what-you-wish-for possession film “Obsession” for $750,000. Focus Features acquired it from last year’s TIFF for $15 million, and now everyone involved is ecstatic with a global box office of over $166 million and the film’s influx over two consecutive weekends.
So who better to sit down with us on IndieWire’s “Screen Talk” than the two minds behind the making of these movies: Blumhouse-Atomic Monsters leader Jason Blum, who helmed “Obsession,” and James Wan, the creator of “Backrooms.”
The two companies began discussions to merge in 2022 and merge in 2024 to create a single company with two labels. Wan most famously backed “The Conjuring” series, one of the most profitable horror franchises of all time, while Blum’s successes date back to found footage favorite “Paranormal Activity.”
Hear from both of them in this week’s “Screen Talk,” where they explain what happened in the “Backroom” and “Obsession” incidents, and what Hollywood should take from their achievement.
They also tease Blumhouse’s upcoming reboot of “The Blair Witch Project” — the first viral horror film — and Wan talks about returning to the “Saw” movies for the first time since writing and directing the 2004 original film.
Elsewhere on this week’s episode, we also analyze the mastery of AI in Martin Scorsese, who recently employed the generic services of Black Forest Labs to develop the storyboards on his next film, “What Happens at Night.” Plus, we’re considering the Oscar prospects for “Disclosure Day,” which is spoiler-free, since reviews won’t hit the streets until next week.
Listen to the episode below or on your favorite podcast platform.
