Hollywood is Learning a New Trick in the Horror Genre by Courting Young Fresh Talent

Hollywood, that aging canine long content to chase its own tail through endless remakes, sequels, and franchise extensions, is finally learning a new trick. Production companies are scouring the internet —YouTube, TikTok, creepypasta forums, and viral short-form content—for the next young artists and creatives whose original intellectual property has already captured Gen Z eyeballs. The recent breakout successes of Obsession and Backrooms have accelerated the hunt, and the results are already reshaping how studios find talent and material.

Kane Parsons, the 21-year-old director of Backrooms, turned a series of YouTube shorts rooted in the popular online “Backrooms” creepypasta into a $10 million feature that has grossed $374 million worldwide, becoming A24’s highest-grossing film to date. Meanwhile, Curry Barker’s low-budget Obsession delivered a massive commercial run reported near $400 million. These are not seasoned industry veterans. They are internet-native filmmakers who built audiences organically before Hollywood came calling. Parsons now finds himself the subject of a multi-studio courtship. Warner Bros. executives Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy reportedly flew to his Bay Area home to pitch him; he has met with HBO leadership; Universal chief Donna Langley has also engaged; and A24 is pushing hard to keep him for a Backrooms sequel and additional original projects. Barker, after Obsession, secured a rich eight-figure deal within the Universal family involving Blumhouse and Atomic Monster for his next original film, after a rival studio reportedly offered $10 million sight-unseen for another project.

The feeding frenzy extends beyond these two. Warner Bros. recently won a multi-studio bidding war for the rights to “Siren Head,” a viral horror meme with billions of views across platforms, with Weapons director Zach Cregger attached. Amazon MGM landed the YouTube-originated Mandela Catalogue franchise. Earlier precedents, such as the Philippou brothers’ Talk to Me, showed the same pattern: online creators delivering fresh horror that connects with younger audiences, followed by aggressive studio pursuit of their next work.

This trend is especially pronounced in the horror genre, which has long been Hollywood’s most reliable low-to-mid-budget performer. The influx of online-native voices and pre-proven IP could genuinely rejuvenate the category, injecting originality and contemporary anxieties into a space that had grown formulaic. Horror’s dedicated fans will show up for even the campiest or weirdest offerings, which means commercial success here is not always the purest measure of a project’s broader cultural or artistic efficacy. Still, the shift is welcome. After years of relying on recycled intellectual property like reboots of classic slashers, endless sequels, and legacy-quels, studios are betting on something fresher. By mining viral content, they gain not only new creators but also a built-in audience already familiar with the material and eager to see it expanded.

There is a certain logic to it. Landing a creator early can mean years of profitable collaboration, the kind of long-term relationship that once defined studio systems with talents like Christopher Nolan. Whether every multi-million-dollar bet will pay off remains to be seen; most will not reach Backrooms-level returns. Yet the direction itself feels healthier than the previous cycle of risk-averse franchise maintenance. Hollywood is finally looking outward to the chaotic, creative energy of the internet rather than endlessly mining its own archives. An old dog, it turns out, can still learn new tricks when the treats are large enough and the competition is fierce.