YouTubers Dominate the Box Office & Tech Wants Robots to Do Your Chores
June 1, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readYouTubers Just Had the Biggest Weekend in Hollywood History
The two highest-grossing movies in America right now were directed by YouTubers. Backrooms, directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, opened at $81 million — bigger than the latest Pixar film and roughly on par with the opening of the most recent Star Wars movie. Obsession, directed by 26-year-old Curry Barker, earned $74 million domestically on a budget of just $750,000, making it the first film since E.T. in 1982 to grow in both its second and third weekends outside of the holiday window. These two films follow Iron Lung, another indie horror movie from YouTuber Markiplier that brought in $50 million on a self-funded $3 million budget. Meanwhile, Disney's The Mandalorian & Grogu fell 70% from its first weekend to its second.
YouTube Is Hollywood's New Farm System
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:29) **Show Open & Peter Thiel Moves to Argentina** - Hosts Neil and Toby introduce the episode's top stories, including tech billionaire Peter Thiel relocating his family to Buenos Aires.
- 2 (03:02) **YouTubers Dominate the Box Office** - Two YouTuber-directed horror films, *Backrooms* and *Obsession*, dominate the weekend box office, signaling a major shift in Hollywood.
- 3 (09:22) **Winner of the Weekend: Tim Payne's Viral Fame** - Toby kicks off the segment by highlighting a New Zealand footballer who gained millions of Instagram followers overnight thanks to an Argentinian influencer.
- 4 (17:54) **Your Free Cleaning is Training AI Robots** - Neil's winner is the Shift app, which offers free home cleanings in NYC in exchange for recording the cleaners to train AI.
- 5 (22:36) **The Week Ahead: Jobs, Earnings, & Elections** - A preview of key events for the week, including a crucial jobs report and a primary election in California.
- 6 (25:03) **The Week Ahead: Sports & Weather** - A look at the upcoming NBA and NHL Finals, and the start of hurricane season.
- 7 Standout Quotes
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
#857: Neal and Toby discuss the recent box office success for YouTubers creating films, like the hit ‘Obsession’. Next up, why Peter Thiel relocated to Argentina and the World Cup player who skyrocked on social media to become a viral star. Then, big tech wants robots to do your chores and taking a look a the week ahead.
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