This summer has been anything but normal in La La Land.
Two indie horror films, one made for less than $1 million, are crushing the box office. A Steven Spielberg film about aliens visiting Earth can only dream of catching up. The same holds for a film franchise “in a galaxy far, far away.”
Nothing makes sense in Hollywood now, and that might be the best news possible for a flailing industry and audiences hoping for more voices, not fewer.
The Old Guard is fading to black. Enter the New Guard, weaned on YouTube and ready to tell fresh stories that connect with Gen Z.
Take director Curry Barker. The 26-year-old isn’t a household name like Spielberg, unless you live on YouTube. Barker cut his teeth on the platform, delivering viral hits like the creepy “Milk & Serial,” an hour-long found-footage film no studio would touch.
That convinced Hollywood to let him direct his first feature, “Obsession,” about a lovestruck man granted one powerful wish: Make the girl of his dreams fall in love with him.
It works, and that’s when the macabre elements rush in.
The micro-indie opened to a solid $17 million in U.S. theaters, but it just kept growing. The film made significantly more money in its subsequent two weekends, a feat that doesn’t happen without adding movie screens.
As of June 11, the film snuck back to reclaim the top box office slot nearly a month after it opened (May 15). Once again, that simply doesn’t happen.
But it did. And its worldwide total as of mid-June is north of $240 million. Hollywood already handed Barker the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” franchise to revive. More gigs will follow, with one studio waving a $10 million check in front of him to do something, anything, for them.
Here’s betting Kane Parsons will get similar offers. The 20-year-old director also flexed his storytelling chops on his YouTube channel (Kane Pixels), building on creepy stories that lurk across digital platforms like 4chan.
The result? “Backrooms,” which opened to $81 million stateside.
That comes on the heels of an early 2026 hit, “Iron Lung.” Once more, a neophyte director weaned on YouTube. Mark Fischbach, AKA Markiplier, wrote, edited, directed, and starred in a sci-fi/horror film that earned a stunning $40 million on a $3 million budget.
As if 2026 couldn’t get any more unpredictable, there’s “The Amazing Digital Circus.” The Australian animated series debuted the final two episodes of its first season in select theaters. That release, subtitled “The Last Act,” briefly topped the box office and ended its debut weekend with more than $20 million.
All for two TV-like episodes set to debut in less than a month, for free, on YouTube. We shouldn’t be shocked, though. The show’s pilot episode has generated 440 million views on the platform to date.
These films did more than just wildly overperform; they let YouTube storytellers have their say. They brought Gen Z back to theaters in droves. That’s what’s been missing in recent years. Something blamed on a generational shift, short attention spans, and a dearth of compelling content.
And it took a new guard of storytellers to make it happen.
Now, imagine this stunning success complemented by older, more established franchises and iconic directors. Except it’s not working out that way.
“The Mandalorian and Grogu,” the first new “Star Wars” feature since 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker,” is underperforming. Badly. The film is laboring to crack the $300 million mark at the global box office, a fraction of what a “Star Wars” movie should earn.
For comparison, “The Rise of Skywalker” brought in $1 billion worldwide, and that film got skewered by franchise fans. The least successful “Star Wars” film in the modern era, “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” brought in $392 million in 2018.
And then there’s the man who gave us “Jaws,” “Jurassic Park” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Spielberg’s new film, “Disclosure Day,” lets the Oscar winner revisit his most popular theme — aliens.
The thriller stars Emily Blunt, Colin Firth, and Colman Domingo, and early reviews are promising — north of 80 percent “fresh” at RottenTomatoes.com. Yet the film is expected to earn roughly $35 million in its opening weekend in the U.S.
Mediocre word of mouth could sink the film, and fast.
Once upon a time, a new Spielberg film felt like a cultural event, one that couldn’t be missed. That’s especially true for his summer-style features.
Not anymore.
Then there’s Clint Eastwood. The actor-director just turned 96, and various media reports suggest he’s either retired or hasn’t decided yet. Either way, the Hollywood legend has earned the right to sit back and marvel at his magnificent film legacy.
There won’t be another star like him, maybe ever.
Hollywood is in flux, and the new kids are in charge. It could also lead to more voices being heard and movie studios losing their iron grip on content. After all, technology is breaking down the barriers between artist and studio. Someone can shoot a movie on their iPhone and edit it on any number of cheap but powerful tools.
Plus, Fischbach self-distributed “Iron Lung,” bypassing the Hollywood gatekeepers — the same gatekeepers who often make sure select stories and voices aren’t heard on screen. We know which ones.
That won’t be the case for much longer.
The new, emerging Hollywood isn’t just saving the theatrical experience. It’s opening cinema up to fresh new ideas and, eventually, to more voices than ever before.
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Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. He’s also the host of The Hollywood in Toto Podcast. Follow him at @HollywoodInToto.
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