Steven Spielberg knows something about becoming a blockbuster filmmaker before the age of 30. So when asked what advice he would give Curry Barker and Kane Parsons, the young directors behind the breakout horror hits Obsession and Backrooms, Spielberg kept it direct.
“Don’t let success go to your heads,” Spielberg said on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast. “Do not let wild success go to your heads, because when you make your next movie, you’re starting from scratch.”
Spielberg was in his 20s when he directed Jaws, the 1975 thriller that helped redefine the modern blockbuster. Now, with Barker, 26, and Parsons, 20, seeing massive success after building audiences online, the filmmaker said the challenge is learning how to begin again after a hit.
“It’s always good to have a big hit to shore up your reputation, and you’re going to get a lot of respect from executives, from the film world and from the studios,” Spielberg said. “But the advice I’d give them is something I had to learn the hard way: We all start over again.”
That lesson may be arriving quickly for Barker and Parsons, whose films have become two of the biggest horror stories of the year.
Obsession, directed by Barker, has grossed $238.7 million globally since its May 15 release, reportedly from a $750,000 budget. Parsons’ Backrooms, released May 29, has grossed $220.6 million worldwide on a $10 million budget.
Both films have been credited with helping bring younger audiences back to theaters, while also signaling the rise of a new generation of filmmakers whose creative instincts were shaped online before moving into features.
Spielberg said long careers are built on understanding that each film begins as its own challenge. “If you get the chance to make 20 or 30 films in your career, you will discover, maybe on your second or third film, that you’re beginning your career all over again at the outset of every single project,” he said.
Spielberg has already seen Obsession. In a recent red carpet interview at the Disclosure Day premiere, he said he “loved it.” Barker was later shown the clip during an appearance on Today and appeared stunned by the praise.
“I can’t believe it,” Barker said.
Horror producer Jason Blum has also praised Barker and Parsons, citing their films as evidence of a new wave of theatrical horror driven by creators who first developed their voices online.
Speaking at the Produced By Conference on the Universal lot in Los Angeles, Blum said the success of Obsession and Backrooms feels like a needed jolt for moviegoing. “Since COVID, there’s been this lethargic feeling around theatrical, and is it relevant anymore, and is it going to survive?” Blum said. “And what I think is so incredible about Obsession and Backrooms is that they’re a new kind of movie. They’re made by non-traditional directors, directors who really honed their skills as creators online.”
Blum said the two films feel connected to an earlier era of disruptive young filmmakers. “To me, there’s almost this feeling of the ’70s, of a new generation of young people making edgy movies that are connecting in theaters in a crazy way,” he said.
For Spielberg, though, the message is less about hype and more about endurance.
A hit can open doors. It can change how studios see a filmmaker. It can turn a young director into one of Hollywood’s most in-demand names.
But then comes the next blank page. And according to Spielberg, that is where the real career begins.
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