Backrooms vs Star Wars: What It Really Means for Licensing

In this episode of Born to License, we break down one of the biggest conversations in Hollywood right now — and why the licensing perspective tells a completely different story.

Two low-budget films created by YouTube-native directors have shocked the industry, outperforming expectations and even competing with major franchises like Star Wars at the box office.

But here’s the real question: 👉 Does box office success actually translate into licensing success?

🎬 In this episode, we cover:

• Why viral films and breakout hits don’t always become licensing giants
• The difference between audience hype and generational IP
• What makes brands like Star Wars and Toy Story dominate consumer products
• The hidden limitations of certain genres (like horror) in licensing
• How new IP like Backrooms could evolve into a licensing opportunity
• Amazon’s new AI-generated content strategy — and what it means for the future of IP
• Why Taylor Swift’s involvement in Toy Story 5 matters (even beyond the film)

🧠 Key Insight: Licensing isn’t just about how big a film is today — it’s about cultural longevity, emotional connection, and multi-generational relevance.

🚀 Also in this episode:

• Behind-the-scenes updates from the Born to License team
• A standout campaign with Sesame Street’s Count for digital safety
• New licensing launches with major brands like John Deere
• Real-world retail insights from inside Walmart (including a moment that got us kicked out…)

📈 If you're in licensing, brand building, or entertainment: This episode will change how you think about IP, content success, and long-term value.

🎙 Born to License – Hosted by David Born

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Transcript

Hello from Brazil. Just before I get into this episode, I need to encourage you to listen until the end, please. I have some major news to share which is a bit of a game changer for me personally and for the bornlicensing businesses. But don't just skip until the end though, because this episode is jam packed with licensing insights. Let's get into it. Something is happening in Sydney cinema right now that the whole industry is talking about and I want to give you the licensing take on it because I think it's quite different from what you're reading everywhere else. Two films, both made by directors who came up through YouTube, have done something that Hollywood genuinely wasn't expecting. The first is Obsession, directed by Curry barker, made for $750,000, certainly a shoestring budget. 

 Acquired by Focus features for around $15 million after it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. It opened to 17 million dol million in the first weekend and then it grew. It went up around 39% in the second weekend, which almost never happens. By now obsession has crossed $148 million worldwide, all on a $750,000 budget, which is really quite something. The second is backrooms from 20 year old director Kane Parsons, who built his audience on YouTube, posting his first backroom short back in 2022 when he was just 16 years old, racking up tens of millions of views before A24 came calling. Backrooms open to $81.5 million domestically in its first weekend. That is A24's biggest opening ever and that's by an enormous margin. Their previous record was $25.5 million. 

 Parsons has become the youngest director to open at number one at the US box office. This is all a really big deal in Hollywood. But here's the detail that really caught my attention. Weekend before backrooms opened, the Mandalorian and Grogu, the first Star wars theatrical film in seven years opened to $81 million domestically. It then dropped 70% in its second weekend, the worst second weekend decline of any Disney era Star wars film. That same weekend backrooms opened to $85.1 million and Obsession continued to hold strong. So we have two low budget films from first time directors, both beating Star wars at the box office. So the question I keep getting asked is what does this mean for licensing? And my honest answer is from a consumer products perspective, almost nothing. 

 And I want to explain why because I think it's one of the most important things to understand about how this industry actually works. The assumption most people make is that licensing follows content, performance, big Film, big sales, struggling franchise, struggling shelf space. And that's true to a point. But it misses selling something fundamental about what licensing actually is. Here's a real world example. Born to license client Hippo Blue sells Star wars branded bento boxes and drink bottles. Their customers include families of children who have never seen a Star wars film. Not one. And yet those kids want the product. Because Star wars isn't just a film franchise. It's an icon that is ingrained in culture. It has been passed down through families for nearly 50 years and you don't need to have watched it to really feel the pull of it. 

 That is what generational IP looks like and it is genuinely rare now. Look at backrooms and obsession through that lens. Both are genuinely impressive cinematic achievements. Both have passionate audiences. But a passionate audience for a new ip, even a very large one, is not the same thing as the kind of deep multi generational cultural saturation that drives sustained licensing programs at mass market for contents. Think about the Saw franchise. The first film came out in 2004, became one of the highest grossing horror franchises in history. Over a billion dollars across box office, home entertainment and merchandise. Ten films in total. But in consumer products licensing, there's a Funko of Billy the Puppet. There are some escape room activations. There is not and there never will be a Saw lunchbox at mass market. 

 Because horror IP has a structural ceiling in licensing that no box office number can overcome. The category itself limits you. Backrooms and Obsession will face some version of that same question. What I'll be watching is whether these properties build sustained multi film audiences over time. If backrooms becomes a franchise with genuine staying power and the box office suggests that we're probably certainly going to see backrooms too very soon, then a licensing conversation becomes genuinely interesting. But we're not there yet. Evergreens win in the long run. They always do. Now staying in entertainment Last week at their AI on the Lot event in Culver City, Amazon MGM Studios announced something worth paying attention to. They've launched a Gen AI Creators Fund, a joint initiative with Amazon Web Services. And they've greenlit the first three animated children series from it. 

 All three are being made using generative AI tools throughout the production pipeline. The three shows are Punky Duck, Love Diana, Music Hunters and Cupcake and Friends. All three are heading to Prime Video now. There's a quote that really struck me and it came from the Punky Duck creator. He said his normally used to spending two years to make a pilot and this one took two months. Here is his Quote word for it. The best way I can describe it is it's like you have sex and then someone hands you the baby. It's pretty crazy. Interesting comparison there. But the point is, it was a lot faster than it usually would have been. From a licensing perspective, the question is simple. If one of these shows connects with kids, does that IP enter the licensing space? I mean, of course it does. 

 IP is IP a child who loves the character, wants the product. The origin of the anime is completely irrelevant to that purchasing decision. What I find encouraging is that Amazon has anchored this first wave with genuinely experienced creators. They've used AI to dramatically accelerate the timeline, but human creative direction is still at the center, and that's the right approach. The risk isn't the technology, it's using the technology as a justification for removing the experienced people who know what good looks like. And I do feel it's only a matter of time until we see a major breakthrough of an IP created with AI, which will be the first to make a huge splash in the licensing space. Well, let's see. Another thing that caught my attention this week, and probably yours too. 

 Toy Story 5 releases on 19 June, and from a licensing standpoint, it was already going to be one of the biggest film events of the year. Then this week it just got bigger. Taylor Swift confirmed she has written an original song for the film. It's called I knew It, I knew you and it came out on Friday. It's described as a return to her country roots, inspired specifically by Jessie's ongoing journey. Jessie being the cowgirl character introduced in Toy Story 2. Taylor said she's always dreamt of writing for these characters and that she wrote the song immediately after seeing an early cut of the film. For licensing, Toy Story barely needed the boost. The franchise has one of the most consistent and deep consumer products programs in the industry, across every channel, every category, every age group. 

 But Taylor Swift's involvement and the cultural moment that it creates will amplify awareness ahead of the release in a way that very few things could. This is exactly what I mean when I say generational IP. Whether this film does $1 billion or $2 billion, the product will sell regardless because the emotional connection to these characters has been building over 30 years now. What's been happening at Born? Have a listen. 

 Wait, don't click count. One, two might be a scam. 

 That was the latest campaign from our bornlicensing licensing team and it's one I'm really proud of. It stars the Count from Sesame street and it's for a campaign called Count before youe Click for Take Nine, a scam prevention initiative founded by Craig Newmark. He's the creator of Craigslist. The idea is beautifully simple. The Count encourages people to count to nine before clicking, downloading or sharing anything online, creating a critical pause to spot red flags like misspelled URLs or suspicious requests. In 2025, the FTC received 3 million fraud reports totaling $15.9 billion in losses. This campaign is trying to move that number in the right direction. What I love about it from a licensing perspective is how perfectly the IP fits the message. 

 The count has been counting since 1972 is a character that Millennials and Gen X grew up with, and that's the same generation that's now managing digital safety for both their kids and their aging parents. The character selection here was not accidental, it was a smart licensing choice. The campaign is running in the US across linear TV streaming, social and digital channels. A big shout out to Amber and Alberto from the Born Licensing team for their exceptional work managing this with Sesame Workshop and Take Nine's agency bpi. The Born To License team have also had some fantastic launches to talk about. The one I keep coming back to is the Everyman Jack John Deere Grooming Range Body Wash Deodorant 1 Shampoo and conditioner launching exclusively at Walmart under the platform Work Dirty, Clean, Easy. 

 This is the first time John Deere has ever entered the grooming space. Two brands, completely different categories united by a very specific shared audience. People who work hard and earn their clean. It's corporate brand licensing done with real strategic clarity. The Born To License team also launched a Wolfpack backpack collection with Sony Pictures and the boys, a property with an intensely passionate fan base and Wolfpack have done something really creative with it. 

 Have a look online. 

 It looks amazing. Brilliant work from the whole team and there is a lot more to come. Now speaking of the Born team, a few weeks ago I gathered the entire team in LA for our annual Born Summit, the week we spend together in person before Licensing Expo. Now those listening may already know Born is a remote first organization. Our team is spread across the uk, the us, Brazil, Spain and that model works really well, but it comes with a genuine challenge. You lose the those water cooler moments, the unplanned conversations, the spontaneous ideas, the relationships that form when you're not on a scheduled call. The Born Summer exists to create the conditions for those things to happen. And one of the things that we did that week as our whole team was go to Walmart and simultaneously get kicked out of Walmart. 

 That was entirely my fault. I arrived with the full team. Everyone in Born to License T shirts, cameras rolling, me holding a massive branded Born to License microphone. I completely understand why security intervenes there. Have a listen to a few of the moments. 

 So, Michelle, you've come across the spongebob section. Tell me a bit more about this. 

 Okay, I spotted this, actually. I saw this super cute design, which. That's what caught my eye from a distance. But then I saw tie dye. 

 Wow. 

 I cannot go past tie dye. And I must admit, like, this color is sort of the thing I would go for. But then when I realized it was spongy, I've got to say, boss, it's. 

 This is very me. 

 All right, Juliana, what have you found here? 

 I found Bluey look. 

 So cute. 

 You know the thing that I find with these kinds of products, you can see, like, the level of detail that goes into here. This is like a product development nightmare. It takes a really long time to get this right. Not only is it Bluey, but it's also Spider Man. You've got Iron man, you've got Paw Patrol, you've got Ninja Turtles here as well. Like the tooling that needs to go into this. Okay, so we had a slight change of plan because security asked us not to film inside, and we wanted to really respect their guidelines and their rules. So we've come outside, we've bought an item each, and we're going to ask each of the team member to come up and tell me about the product that they've chosen, starting with these licensed socks. Who's that? Oh, it's Vinnie Vinny. 

 This is an homage to Brina because she loves Dr. Pepper and I thought it was really cute. And it's a corporate. Licensed corporate. So it's double corporate. There we go. 

 Very good. 

 Some Dr. Pepper. And this is a. This is a really good lesson that licensing doesn't always have to be super obvious. Dr. Pepper is a corporate brand, and, yeah, we love it. Okay, who chose this? It's Brinach. 

 I found the licensed Harry Potter, Butterbeer, Goldfish collab and thought it would be pretty tasty. 

 Very good, Brinag. Well spotted. Harry Potter is very popular. Let's go to this Sesame Street Elmo thing. 

 So this is a. It's like a fake phone for kids. Licensed from Sesame Street. I think it's better to use this than, you know, your traditional smartphone, especially for kids. I think we're all using our phones a little too much. So this might be a little Bit of a healthier alternative. 

 Okay, thank you, Julian. We have got a stitch detangler. Who is this ac? Tell us about this. Why did you choose this? 

 Because look at how adorable it is. It's really good use of, like, using assets on product, and I would definitely use this myself. 

 Oh, Jenna, very good. Tell us about this. 

 So this is from one of the episodes, Duck Cake episode from Bluey. And I personally love when a product is created based on something that's taken from, like, the movies, the episodes, and it's interactive play for kids, which is all about learning. So I love it. I actually really want it for myself as well. 

 And actually, this is a big achievement from a product development perspective. There's a lot of product that went into that, so it's probably a lot of moving parts in product development. 

 Right? 

 I mean, that would be a nightmare, to be quite honest, and a very long turnaround time as well. But I think it's executed perfectly, to be quite honest. 

 Very good. 

 Thank you, Jenna. Bluey. One of the most popular properties in the world right now. Let's move on to one of my personal favorites, Cookie Monster. Here we go. Lb. Tell us about this. 

 This is a Cookie Monster mug with Funko Pop as well. I don't know if you can see it, but there's the eyes popping from the edge, so I think that's really fun. I love Cookie Monster. 

 Really interesting to see Funko doing, like, new exciting things. 

 Look at this one. 

 This is a Fugler Frankie. 

 All right, guys, so this is Fugler. It's a collaboration with Care Bears. So you can see it's beautiful. Teeth are shiny, and, yeah, look at the little guys in the back. 

 Very cute. Love Care Bears. One of my personal faves. Who's got these funky sunglasses? That is Juliana. Oh, and we've got matching dress as well. Okay. 

 Really cute bluey dress with the sunglasses I'm taking to my daughter Mel. 

 Very good. Take it back home to Brazil. Ag. What have we got? 

 Hi, guys. I'm so excited that I found this. So this is a Jack and Sally sleepwear suit, but it is the middle of summer. I think it's really interesting to see that they're actually pulling out these assets and using seasonal characters outside of the seasonal times. We've been calling this as a bit of a trend one to watch, so to see it in Walmart today, I was super pumped. It's happening. 

 Very good. 

 Thank you, Alyssa. I chose this one. Of course, it's SpongeBob SquarePants. Of course it's FMCG which is my true licensing passion. And I just love how they've applied spongebob in, like, a dome, like, at the top of this product. It just shows how instantly recognizable the character is. The spongebob yellow, those big eyes. You know, you don't even. You can't even see he's a sponge with this. But everybody instantly recognizes our friend SpongeBob SquarePants, who does really well in food and promotions. 

 Now, what the team bought out told a clear story about where the market is right now. Bluey product based on a specific episode. Well, that's a sign of a very strong life. Licensing program. Jack and Sally Sleepwear in the middle of summer. Seasonal characters breaking out of their traditional retail window. A trend we'd been watching. And there it was confirmed on a Walmart shelf. Spongebob in fmcg, instantly recognizable even when you can barely see the character. The shelf does not lie. The full video is on the bornlicensing to license YouTube channel. Make sure to go check it out. And Walmart, if you're listening, I'm really sorry. Next time, I'll ask for permission. What's the other big thing we did during the week of the Born Summit? Well, we spent a day at Universal Studios together. 

 Again, you can check that out in full on the bornlicensing to license YouTube channel. But here are a few fun moments from that. 

 Here we are in Springfield, the home of the Simpsons. We've got the Simpsons right here. Crusty Land. We've got Springfield Nuclear Plant. We've got Cletus's Chicken Shack. And behind me is the famous Kwik E Mart. We're going to go have a look. 

 At some Simpsons product. 

 The Jurassic World franchise is one of the biggest universal franchises that exist. So of course, they've got this big area in theme park for this. They also have a merch store. So we're going to go check that out as well. Let's go. And one of the interesting things about Jurassic World franchise is that they're dinosaurs, right? So they're kind of like characters that no one can necessarily own, but they really lean into their, like, logo, the Jurassic park logo and the Jurassic park branding to make. Make it really stand out and have a point of difference and make it feel really authentic. So it's not just a dinosaur product. It's a Jurassic park dinosaur product, which. 

 Makes all the difference. 

 You can just see, like, the attention to detail here. You know, these are like dinosaur slippers, right? But here on the heel, they've got that iconic Jurassic park logo. So that level of detail makes it feel really authentic and really special and is a reason why people will pay more for this kind of stuff. This is the Jeep Wrangler from, I think it's the first film, very iconic scene. But this is interestingly a license in itself. So Jeep is owned by a third party and needs to be licensed as well. So this is actually a combination product Jurassic park license as well as a. 

 Jeep license as well for this product. 

 So I've just had my photo with Mario and Luigi and of course when you're in such a amazing place like this, you have to go check out the merch. Of course they have lots of merch to check out, so. So let's go take a look. 

 Now. 

 I did say at the start of. 

 The episode that I have some big news to share. Here it is. Those of you who know me know I'm Australian. That's where I started my licensing career. I then spent six years living and working in London and for the last four years I've been based in Curitiba in Brazil. But in a few weeks, here's the big news. I'm moving to la. This has been a long time coming. The business is bigger than it's ever been and LA is where entertainment and licensing lives. It felt like the right moment to make the move. Over the coming weeks I'll share more about why la, what it means to the business and how the move goes. If there are any LA based listeners who want to connect, please do reach out helloorntolicense.com is the best email address. 

 Or find me on Instagram and see it all happen in real time. That's David Born is the handle. It's Born with a zero instead of an o. Now before I go, the podcast is growing. The best thing that you can do to help out is to recommend an episode to a colleague or share your thoughts on social media. I'd love it if you shared your thoughts tagged me or repost it on LinkedIn or Instagram. Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss what's coming until next week. I'm David Born and this is Born to License.