This weekend, “Backrooms” entered the mainstream.
A24‘s buzzy horror film, directed by 20-year-old YouTube phenom Kane Parsons, obliterated box office expectations with $81 million domestically and $118 million worldwide in its opening weekend. Those ticket sales rank as the largest debut ever for A24, more than tripling the record once established by 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.
“Backrooms” is based on Parsons’ popular web series about liminal spaces — eerie, seemingly endless rooms and structures that have 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, so it’s already a wildly profitable hit.
