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YouTubers Win the Box Office & YouTube Overtakes Netflix
At 2:39:17 · chapter starts 2:34:05
The week's most culturally significant story arrives at the end: YouTube has officially overtaken Netflix in global average daily viewing, reaching 99.1 minutes to Netflix's 93 [1] — Leo Laporte "Backrooms movie grossed $100M+ in first weekend: Kane Pixels' Backrooms film, made on a $10 million A24 budget by a 20-year-old director, e…" 2:34:42 . Simultaneously, Backrooms — directed by 20-year-old YouTube creator Kane Pixels with $10 million from A24 — grossed over $100 million in its opening weekend. Jeff Jarvis notes this is categorically different from the failed first wave of YouTube-to-Hollywood transitions a decade ago, when Nickelodeon imported creators and stripped out what made them work. This time, the creators are making movies on their own terms. Jeff connects this to Robert Tercek's appearance on Intelligent Machines discussing AI-generated films premiering at Tribeca. Fr. Robert highlights Viva La Dirt League as a YouTube channel with genuine filmmaking chops, and Joey recommends 'The Archive Inbetween,' a YouTube channel doing AI-generated '1950s civil defense films for the multiverse.' South Korea leads global YouTube viewing at 161.5 minutes a day; France recorded the biggest growth.
A 20-year-old YouTube creator got $10 million from A24 and made over $100 million at the box office in one weekend. Meanwhile YouTube globally overtook Netflix in daily average viewing for the first time. The panel argues this isn't a fluke — it's the permanent collapse of traditional gatekeeping in entertainment.
Kane Pixels' Backrooms film, made on a $10 million A24 budget by a 20-year-old director, earned over $100 million in its opening weekend, marking a landmark for YouTube-to-film transitions.
YouTube's global average daily viewing reached 99.1 minutes in 2025, surpassing Netflix's 93 minutes, marking the first time YouTube has taken the daily viewing crown.
