Movies directed by YouTubers are suddenly blowing up at the box office. Backrooms and Obsession are both smash hits, and The Amazing Digital Circus had a big debut last week. Is this the moment YouTube truly takes over Hollywood? Julia Alexander, media correspondent at Puck, walks us through the much longer history of YouTube on the big screen, and helps us figure out where this all goes next. Is the future just really, really big YouTube videos? We have new merch! Get yours here: https://bit.ly/3RCikCY 0:00 – Intro: YouTubers taking over Hollywood 1:27 – 90 Seconds on The Verge (World Cup, Trump phone, Thread 1.4) 3:22 – Julia Alexander on the YouTube-to-Hollywood trend 4:32 – Creators bypassing Hollywood's gatekeeping system 8:44 – Is this actually a new phenomenon? 9:30 – Studios building creator divisions; multi-channel network déjà vu 14:40 – The end of the traditional movie star 17:01 – TV already did this: Broad City, Insecure, High Maintenance 20:32 – The communal movie theater comeback 22:16 – Exhibitors and creators need each other right now 25:10 – YouTube's play to become Hollywood 26:49 – Why Neal Mohan isn't worried about losing creators to theaters 30:14 – Outro Subscribe: http://goo.gl/G5RXGs Like The Verge on Facebook: https://goo.gl/2P1aGc Follow on Twitter: https://goo.gl/XTWX61 Follow on Instagram: https://goo.gl/7ZeLv Watch The Vergecast on YouTube: https://bit.ly/40RFRkg The Vergecast Podcast: https://bit.ly/3WQDexZ Decoder with Nilay Patel: http://apple.co/3v29nDc More about our podcasts: https://www.theverge.com/podcasts Read More: http://www.theverge.com Community guidelines: http://bit.ly/2D0hlAv Wallpapers from The Verge: https://bit.ly/2xQXYJr Shop our Verge merch store here: https://bit.ly/4kPCmEc Subscribe to The Verge: https://bit.ly/3FT6n5S If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may receive a commission without exerting any influence on editorial content. For more information about our ethics policy, visit: https://bit.ly/3ZWTlLs