Many youtubers are attempting to use their rising popularity as a platform to expand to movie screens this year.

Youtubers have created movies and shows in the past, but were not popular due to the lack of positive ratings and the ability to view them in theatres. This began to change when youtuber Tyler Oakley’s documentary “Snervous” was released in theaters last year. It didn’t receive very high ratings with critics but Oakley’s fans and viewers loved the film.

“Yes, (I think youtubers can become successful in Hollywood) because many youtubers are hilarious and many have good characters and personalities,” junior Justin Houston said.

Youtuber PJ Liguori (KickthePj), achieved higher ratings with critics in his mini-series “Oscar’s Hotel for Fantastical Creatures.” The comedy series features youtuber Chris Kendall (crabstickz) playing Oliver, who is taking over his relative Oscar’s hotel and trying to deal with the chaos of managing the mystical creatures that stay there.

Noticing the success, entertainment companies such as Lionsgate are beginning to acknowledge the power of digital stars and are willing to make a bet to see if they could bring their success to the big screens. Two years ago, the popular YouTube trio Grace Helbig, Hannah Hart (MyHarto), and Mamrie Hart were executive producers for the feature-length comedy “Camp Takota”. This year, the three comedians are executive producers of another comedy film called “Dirty Thirty.”

Lionsgate also acquired distribution rights for the upcoming film “Natural Born Pranksters”, in which YouTube’s top pranksters: Vitaly Zdorovetskiy (VitalyzdTV), Roman Atwood and Dennis Roady (howtoPRANKitup), unleash their most epic pranks. The film will be in theaters on April 1.

YouTube Red, also tested the power of YouTube stars when they released original shows and movies created by youtubers. Many people are against YouTube Red, which is clear in the comments of YouTube videos advertising the content but some are willing to pay for videos if they believe the content the youtuber makes will be better due to the higher budget.

“For hardcore YouTube fans, YouTube Red might become more successful but for others, I don’t think so,” Houston said.

YouTube Red offers movies such as “Lazer Team”. Created by the gang in the YouTube channel Rooster Teeth, the sci-fi action film is about four small-town losers who find themselves responsible for the fate of the world, when they find alien equipment in an alien crash site.

Likely the most well known show that YouTube Red features, “Scare PewDiePie,” which stars youtuber Felix Kjellberg, well known by his subscribers or “bros” as PewDiePie. Kjellberg faces terrifying real-life situations that are meant to scare him, which is fitting, as his more popular videos on YouTube show his hilarious reactions to playing horror games.

“A Trip to Unicorn Island” is another movie which YouTube Red features. Created by the energetic, successful youtuber Lilly Singh (Superwoman), the movie gives a look into Singh’s journey as a creator while she takes a world tour and spreads a message of happiness to her millions of fans. The documentary premiered at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood and while YouTube caused Singh to have this success, she didn’t use it as a platform to get to Hollywood.

“When I first started YouTubing, the idea was ‘Oh, YouTube is going to be a stepping stone to get to other places,’ and I just totally don’t agree with that,” Singh said in the Variety article “YouTube Fans See a Different Side of Lilly Singh in YouTube Red’s ‘A Trip to Unicorn Island’” written by Margaret Lenker.

Although the success of youtubers in films is evident, there is still a cast of doubt and disagreement from few such as freshman Christine Valenzuela.

“If they were to become famous, it should be because they’re good and not because they’re from YouTube,” she said, “They shouldn’t be leeching off their YouTube fame.”