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“Backrooms” has hit $400 million at the global box office, a remarkable benchmark for the low-budget indie sensation.
After nearly four months on the big screen, “Backrooms” has generated $197.5 million domestically
and $202.57 million internationally for a worldwide tally of $400.09 million. Produced for just $10 million, the surprise horror hit has become A24’s highest-grossing releases of all time as well as one of the most profitable movies of the year.
YouTuber Kane Parsons directed “Backrooms,” which shattered box office expectations thanks to electric word-of-mouth and enthusiasm from Gen Z audiences. “Backrooms” and “Obsession,” another low-budget horror smash from a young YouTube star-turned-director, together upended conventional wisdom that younger crowds weren’t all that into going to the movies. “Obsession,” which was made by 26-year-old Curry Barker, has generated an incredible $516 million globally and cost $750,000 to produce.
Fueled by “Backrooms,” A24 enjoyed its biggest summer ever and managed to beat Warner Bros. and Paramount in terms of market share. It’s one of the rare times an indie distributor has outgrossed a major studio during popcorn season, one of the busiest times of year for moviegoing. A24 ended the summer with $237 million in total and ranked fourth among distributors, ahead of Paramount with $192 million and Warner Bros. with $165 million and behind Universal with a towering $1.12 billion, Sony with $978.8 million and Disney with $664 million. (Focus Features, which released “Obsession,” is owned by Universal.)
Among other records, “Backrooms” is by far A24’s highest grossing movie of all time, towering above the prior high-water mark set by “Marty Supreme” with $192 million. It also delivered the indie studio’s biggest debut with $81 million domestically and $118 million worldwide, more than tripling the domestic record previously held by Alex Garland’s 2024 thriller “Civil War” with $25.5 million. And Parsons, who was 20, became the youngest filmmaker with a No. 1 film at the box office, overtaking the benchmark held by Josh Trank, who was 27 when 2012’s “Chronicle” launched in first place with $22 million.
Outside of the United States and Canada, the highest-grossing territories for “Backrooms” were China with $27.8 million, Mexico with $17.8 million, the United Kingdom with $17.6 million, Australia and New Zealand with $12.3 million and France with $12.2 million.
“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. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, and Mark Duplass star in the movie, which follows a furniture store operator who discovers an endless array of liminal spaces in the store’s basement. Although a sequel hasn’t been confirmed, Parsons has hinted he wants to turn “Backrooms” into a film franchise. Meanwhile every other studio is on the hunt to find the next Parsons.
