Backrooms is one of A24's most interesting movie releases of 2026, and it has a strong chance to become its highest-grossing horror movie release ever. Before the movie was ever released, it had a built-in fanbase thanks to director Kane Parsons' YouTube series, of which his original video has reached 79 million views as of May 2026. Parsons' YouTube channel has over 3.1 million subscribers, and this gave him the leverage to get some big names behind him when he turned his series into a theatrical movie from A24.
Backrooms is based on the "Backrooms" creepypasta, and the video revolves around Async, a fictional research institute that discovers the Backrooms and attempts to document and research them. Other than the original video with 79 million views, Parsons made a total of 24 videos, with the last coming in February 2025. Parsons directs his Backrooms movie, with a script by Will Soodik, and the movie changes things to follow a therapist, Dr. Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve), who goes into the Backrooms to find her missing patient, Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor).
Screen Rant awarded the movie a 7/10 rating in its review, with critic Graeme Guttmann writing, "Backrooms is still an effective horror film, dealing in quiet terror over abject horror." In all, the movie has an 87% Rotten Tomatoes score with 78 critical reviews, which is big news for the release. Variety reports that the movie is predicted to make a record $45 million-plus opening weekend, which could be big news for A24.
Backrooms Has A Built-In Audience From The Internet
The biggest selling point for the Backrooms movie for A24 is that it is based on an incredibly popular creepypasta, which originated on May 12, 2019, on 4chan. The board post showed a photo of a yellow-walled, fluorescent-lit empty room, and it asked what happens when a person noclips out of reality. That post inspired Parsons to make his viral short based on the creepypasta, which he did on January 7, 2022. Parsons was only 16 when he made his short film.
The short, which ran for nine minutes, has 79 million views, and his channel has a total of 341 million views. The trailer for his movie has over 10 million views, and that number is climbing. Since its release on YouTube, Backrooms has exploded in popularity and was even a big part of the Roblox video game, with its Red Panda Industries Backrooms game surpassing 123 million visits. The game has a built-in, rabid fanbase that wants to see it succeed.
This is the second movie released in 2026 that was based on something that began life as an internet sensation. Iron Lung was a horror movie that premiered on January 30 and was directed by a YouTube sensation named Mark Fischbach, who goes by the pseudonym "Markiplier." Markiplier has a YouTube following of 38.6 million subscribers, and his Iron Lung video from four years ago had 16 million views. Iron Lung made $51 million worldwide as an R-rated horror movie.
Backrooms has A24 behind it, and this means it will be in theaters much longer than Iron Lung's independent release. It also has a strong push, with plenty of trailers and a lot of good press. It's 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is higher than Iron Lung's 60%, although audiences gave Iron Lung an 86%, and Backrooms looks like it will also draw a positive response from audiences and fans of Parsons' YouTube show.
Backrooms Has A Big Team Behind The A24 Release
There is more behind Backrooms than just A24 as a studio. First up, Kane Parsons is only 20 years old, the youngest feature director in A24's history. Second, there is the screenwriter, Will Soodik, who helped develop the project with Parsons based on the viral web series. These two men, who are speaking to their own generation, have some big names behind them.
The producers for the movie are some of the biggest horror filmmakers in the industry. Producer James Wan co-created the Saw, Conjuring, and Insidious movies. Producer Shawn Levy has had big box office success with movies like Deadpool & Wolverine. Producer Osgood Perkins is coming off two huge indie horror movies with Longlegs and The Monkey.
The movie stars Oscar-nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) and Oscar-nominee Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World), with Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell, Avan Jogia, and 7'7" Romanian actor Robert Bobroczkyi. Despite big names as producers, an Oscar-winning actor, and another Oscar nominee, Backrooms was still made for under $10 million, and it is officially a low-budget release, looking to be a huge release for A24.
What A24 Horror Movies Have Thrived At The Box Office?
As mentioned, A24 is behind Backrooms, and while the studio is considered one of the best prestige indie filmmaking houses in Hollywood, it hasn't always had big box office success. Only five A24 movies broke $100 million at the worldwide box office, and none of them were horror films. Marty Supreme was an Oscar contender that made $191 million, and Everything Everywhere All at Once was an Oscar winner that made $147 million. The other three movies are The Drama, Civil War, and Materialists.
However, right behind those five movies are the two most successful A24 horror movies of all time. Talk to Me finished with $92 million worldwide, and Hereditary made $90 million. Talk to Me's opening weekend was $10 million, but that movie had strong legs. Hereditary opened to $13 million, and it received impeccable reviews as it climbed the box office charts. Backrooms is expected to beat both of those movies.
Civil War opened with $25.5 million, and it crossed the $100 million mark. Backrooms is expected to possibly double that opening weekend. With a budget of only $10 million, this is going to be one of the most financially successful horror movies that A24 has ever released. In fact, if it hits $50 million in the opening weekend, it will move ahead of every A24 horror movie other than Talk to Me, Hereditary, and Heretic. A24 looks to have a major hit on its hands with Backrooms.
Release Date May 27, 2026
Runtime 110 minutes
Director Kane Parsons
Writers Will Soodik
English (US) ·