The endless yellow hallways of A24's "Backrooms," directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, terrified tens of thousands of people in its opening weekend to rack up $118 million at the box office.And Focus Features film "Obsession," directed by 26-year-old Curry Barker, has taken in $148 million worldwide in two weeks -- a smash hit for a production that cost $750,000."It's a huge, huge success and a real turning point for the industry, potentially," said associate editor Matthew Frank of The Ankler, a digital media company that covers Hollywood. "They're breaking out with these films that are appealing to a younger demographic," Frank said, adding that the vast majority of ticket buyers the past couple weekends "have been under 35 and even, you know, under 25. So it's appealing to this demographic (that) normally doesn't really get spoken to."In recent years multiplexes have faced a multi-fold decline, fueled by the rise of streaming, a lag in recovery in ticket sales since Covid, and the strikes that halted production in Hollywood in 2023. But this year's numbers are drumming up optimism for the best year since the pandemic.This is thanks in part to Generation Z, which boosted the box office by 25 percent last year, according to a report from the National Research Group. Theater owners are "ecstatic about these weekends," said Ronnie Yount, owner of the Phoenix Theaters chain in the midwest.Yount compared both films to "Lilo & Stitch" for driving box office -- which seemed unthinkable. Franchise fails