Overview
- Backrooms opened to roughly $81.4 million in North America and about $118 million worldwide in its opening weekend, setting a new top debut for A24 and placing the film at number one at the box office.
- The movie was directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, who turned a viral 2022 YouTube ‘found footage’ series into the feature and drew on a 2019 online creepypasta known as The Backrooms for its premise.
- Produced for about $10 million, the A24 release involved high-profile backers including James Wan and Shawn Levy and features stars such as Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve.
- Industry observers say Parsons’ success joins other recent YouTuber-to-theater hits and shows how creators with built-in, young audiences can reduce marketing friction and drive strong opening-weekend turnout.
- Parsons and his backers have discussed sequels and franchise plans, but analysts warn the model’s current wins are concentrated in low-budget horror and that wider industry change will depend on whether it scales beyond the genre.