Indie horrors rewrite Hollywood's math with tiny budgets and giant returns

Two ultra-low-budget horror films, Backrooms (~$10m) and Obsession (~$1m), are delivering blockbuster-style profits and signaling a shift in Hollywood away from expensive IP. Backrooms opened with about $81m in the US ($135m US total); Obsession has $152m US and $225m worldwide, outpacing Masters of the Universe and The Mandalorian and Grogu. Both projects come from Gen Z directors who built their craft via YouTube, suggesting studios will lean toward original, younger-skewing indie cinema in the future.