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No, creators aren’t remaking the box office—at least not in the way you might think.
Over the past few days, CNN declared that YouTubers could “change the future of moviemaking,” while the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that “YouTubers may be saving Hollywood.” That comes after the top two films at the global box office this past weekend were directed by YouTubers.
“Backrooms,” directed by 20-year-old YouTuber Kane Parsons, grossed $118 million worldwide during its opening weekend. “Obsession,” directed by YouTuber Curry Barker, has surpassed $100 million in the global box office so far.
These are major successes for digital creators in cinema. But there’s an important detail missing from the conversation: Both are horror films. So is nearly every other YouTuber-led box office hit.
That includes Markiplier’s horror sci-fi movie “Iron Lung,” which he self-funded, starred in and directed. It has grossed more than $50 million worldwide since debuting earlier this year. Then there’s “Talk to Me” from Danny and Michael Philippou, twins and YouTubers better known as RackaRacka. The supernatural horror film, which was released in theaters in July 2023, grossed $92 million. There’s also “Feed,” a 2022 slasher movie from a Swedish creator, that did well domestically.
That’s not a coincidence. Horror doesn’t require massive budgets, A-list actors or expensive visual effects to find an audience and succeed. This isn’t a knock on creators or the genre. It simply means that horror has long been a popular and more accessible route for newcomers trying to break into Hollywood.
These latest creator-led movies fit the pattern: “Obsession” had a production budget of up to $1 million, while “Backrooms” cost about $10 million to make. Other horror films from digital creators also fall within that range. While these figures may sound like a lot, they are a fraction of the budgets for major studio franchises, which can cost upwards of $200 million.
Reece Feldman, a creator who goes by the handle @guywithamoviecamera on TikTok and Instagram, has another theory for why creators are drawn to horror.
“I feel like digital creators can be looked down on,” he told us at the Cannes Film Festival last month. “Horror is very often disrespected and written off similarly to digital.”
It’s true: Horror movies often struggle with critics, though there are some exceptions. “Silence of the Lambs” won multiple Oscars and others like “The Exorcist” and “Get Out” have earned critical acclaim.
Still, the success of these latest movies from YouTubers comes at a pivotal moment for Hollywood, making it hard for the industry to ignore. With production budgets under pressure, they offer a compelling example of how some films can be made much more cost effectively.
As we’ve noted previously, big-name studios could also learn from the creator business model of building an audience for a film first before releasing it, especially if they want to attract younger audiences. For example, 86% of ticket buyers for “Backrooms” were under age 35.
But it’s unclear whether creators will be able to replicate the same box office success outside of horror.
Even with smaller budgets, securing funding is challenging, especially in the US where there is little financial support for indie filmmakers. Making a feature-length film also requires a different set of skills, resources and production capabilities than creating content for social media, limiting the number of creators who can go down this route. Even “Obsession” starred several famous actors, including Chiwetel Ejiofor and Mark Duplass, which surely helped broaden the movie’s appeal.
And so far, most attempts by creators in other genres haven’t hit. Take top kids YouTuber Ryan Kaji, who released “Ryan's World the Movie: Titan Universe Adventure” in 2024 with an estimated budget of $10 million. The film flopped, grossing just over $624,000 worldwide, according to data from Box Office Mojo.
Meanwhile, YouTube comedy group Dude Perfect saw small earnings from its theatrical release of “Dude Perfect: The Hero Tour” in 2025, which grossed just shy of $6,000. The movie was only shown across 18 theaters though.
Regardless, we expect more creators to try to make movies for theaters. That could include Feldman, whose ultimate goal is to create a film himself.
The genre? Horror.
We go deeper on the convergence of creators and the film industry, in a recent Scalable podcast episode. Watch on YouTube above or tune in anywhere you get your podcasts.
The Round Up
Meta committed $13 million to fund its Oversight Board, meaning that the independent watchdog’s operations will run through 2028. The board was formed in 2020 in response to criticism over how Meta handled difficult content moderation decisions. The funding comes even as Meta has moved to using more automated moderation systems and user-driven approaches similar to X’s community notes.
TikTok Shop is expanding in Europe and will become available in Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands in Poland starting June 15. Since launching in the EU in late 2024, more than 100,000 European businesses have joined TikTok Shop, according to the company.
Twitch announced a new feature called Dual Format, which allows creators to stream horizontally and vertically at the same time to accommodate viewers tuning in on desktop or mobile.
Snapchat‘s news show “Good Luck America,” hosted by veteran journalist Peter Hamby, is on indefinite hiatus, the media newsletter Status reported. No new episodes of the show, which launched in 2016, have been released since March. Snapchat canceled most of its other original shows back in 2022. Snap confirmed to Scalable that the show is on a break.
Newsletter publishing platforms are hosting more events: Beehiiv will host its first virtual “Summer Release” event on July 16, where it is expected to announce new features. Last week, Substack hosted its first in-person media founders summit, whose speakers included CEO Chris Best, “Feed Me” writer Emily Sundberg and TBPN’s President Dylan Abruscato.
Deals, Deals, Deals
Phia, an AI shopping app co-founded by Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, announced new funding from an unusually large group of celebrity backers.
The list includes actors, athletes and creators such as Khloe Kardashian, Alix Earle, Olympian Eileen Gu, Sydney Sweeney, Mindy Kaling, Priyanka Chopra, YouTuber Lilly Singh and Karlie Kloss, among many others. The funding adds to the $35 million Series A round the startup announced in January. Gates and Kianni also host a podcast together called “The Burnouts” which is part of Alex Cooper’s Unwell network.
SiriusXM and iHeartMedia have put deal talks on hold as the two sides haven’t been able to agree on terms, DealBook reported.
Audiochuck’s true crime podcast “The Deck” is now available on Tubi. The deal follows a previous partnership with Tubi and its parent company Fox to create a FAST Channel for Audiochuck’s top show “Crime Junkie,” hosted by Ashley Flowers.
“When we think about our distribution strategy, historically, it’s been ‘let's launch on Spotify, Apple, and let’s be where the audio consumer is,’” Matt Starker, CEO of Audiochuck, told us on a previous episode of Scalable.
Now as the Flowers-founded company has expanded to video, it’s eyeing more deals with streaming services. Watch for more details on the strategy below.
Sports Desk
Tim Payne, a defender on the New Zealand soccer team, has seen his Instagram following skyrocket after Argentine influencer Valen Scarsini, better known as Elscarso, decided he was the “least known” player at the World Cup and encouraged people to follow him and like his posts. Payne’s Instagram account jumped from about 4,000 followers to now more than 4 million. (Payne now has more followers than Scarsini, who has 1 million).
Talent Tracker
Jim Shepherd is now Meta’s director of content and creator partnerships, with a focus on Meta’s wearables business, The Hollywood Reporter reported. Previously, Shepherd spent more than a decade at Snap leading its creator and content partnerships.
Kendall Ostrow joined CAA as an executive in its Creators division. Most recently, Ostrow was head of top creators and public figures at YouTube. She also spent nearly a decade at UTA.
Bill Watkins, the former chief revenue officer of Pinterest, joined Expedia Group as senior vice president and general manager of global advertising.
Deepak Agarwal is now Meta’s vice president of engineering, leading the Instagram Home engineering team. Previously, he was chief AI officer at LinkedIn.
Netflix is hiring a manager for content licensing to lead podcast and creator deals.
A Message from Cannes Lions
Join us for the LIONS Creators Party on Wednesday June 24. This dedicated celebration of the creator economy’s industry and craft is your chance to connect with industry decision makers in a fun and relaxed setting. Be part of it.
LIONS Creators | 22-26 June 2026 | Cannes, France
Edelman Hires its First Chief Creator Officer
Edelman has named Kenny Gold its first global chief creator officer, creating a rare C-suite role dedicated entirely to creators.
Gold will lead the strategic communications firm’s creator business and help clients make creators a bigger part of their marketing strategies across social media, advertising and other digital channels.
“This is so much bigger than just marketing,” Gold said, noting that the creator economy is influencing everything from Hollywood and media companies to how new products are launched. Previously, Gold was managing director and head of social and creator at Deloitte Digital.
Creator Moves
KSI announced he’s leaving the Sidemen after 13 years. Though he was arguably the most recognizable member of the YouTube group, his career has expanded well beyond it, including into professional boxing and music.
Marc D’Amelio, the father of early TikTok star Charli D’Amelio, is disputing allegations online that millions of dollars were taken out of her accounts, which were created during the years when her career was managed by her parents.
In since-deleted replies to an Instagram post from gossip account Deux Moi, Marc D’Amelio denied the report, saying “this is not true” and “no one called me for an interview,” while also claiming his daughter is “being manipulated.” The TikTok star has not publicly addressed the claims. Deux Moi also placed a disclaimer on the post, saying the allegations “remain unverified.”
Recho Omondi’s fashion podcast “The Cutting Room Floor” announced a multi-year partnership with Patreon. The deal includes marketing, production and other support services.
Catherine Smart’s food podcast “Not From Concentrate” announced a partnership with PRX, a public media organization that hosts podcasts including “This American Life” and The New Yorker’s “Critics at Large.”
