“Backrooms” has cleared a major box office milestone in record time. The buzzy horror movie, from YouTuber Kane Parsons, earned $100 million after just six days of release. Most arthouse releases are lucky to surpass that benchmark by the end of their box office runs — especially in this current, fractured moviegoing landscape.
With these ticket sales, “Backrooms” also ranks as A24‘s highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office, overtaking the benchmark that was just established by last December’s “Marty Supreme” with $96 million. “Marty Supreme,” starring Timothee Chalamet as a ping-pong phenom, remains the indie studio’s biggest film worldwide with $191 million, though “Backrooms” will soon surpass that high watermark, too.
Last weekend, “Backrooms” shattered expectations by launching to $81 million domestically and $118 million globally. The film secured the largest debut ever for A24, more than tripling the record of Alex Garland’s 2024 thriller “Civil War” ($25.5 million). It also delivered the biggest start in history for an original horror movie. Meanwhile, Parsons became the youngest filmmaker with a No. 1 film at the box office, trouncing the benchmark held by Josh Trank, who was 27 when 2012’s “Chronicle” launched in first place with $22 million. Given the unprecedented levels of business, it’s unclear just how much the film will earn in its sophomore outing, though analysts are predicting a haul of $48 million to $50 million between Friday and Sunday.
“Backrooms” is based on Parsons’ popular web series about liminal spaces — eerie, seemingly endless rooms and structures that originated on 4chan and gained popularity over the years in online forums like Reddit and TikTok. The story follows a furniture store owner (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who finds a secret doorway that leads him to a seemingly endless stretch of nondescript rooms. When he disappears, his therapist (Renate Reinsve) ventures into the unknown to rescue him. A24 and Chernin Entertainment co-financed “Backrooms” for roughly $10 million, meaning it’s already hugely profitable. Though a sequel hasn’t been announced, Parsons has already teased the idea of turning “Backrooms” into a film franchise.
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