Story perspectives

Backrooms Smashes A24 Record with $212M Global in 10 Days

6/8/2026

Summary

Backrooms Smashes Records

Backrooms became A24’s highest-grossing film worldwide, surpassing the $191 million record set by Marty Supreme.
The movie earned $212 million at the global box office in its first 10 days.
It opened with an A24-record weekend of between $85 million and $90 million.
The film, directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, stars Renate Reinsve and Chiwetel Ejiofor and has an 88 % Rotten Tomatoes rating.

Summary

Film Fanbase Falters

The film’s fan-front-loaded intellectual property caused a steep 68% second-weekend box-office decline in North America.
81% of second-weekend viewers were under age 35, making the audience overwhelmingly young.
Production costs stayed below $10 million while domestic marketing expenditures reached the teen-million range, according to studio reports.
The movie’s performance spurred record-breaking runs for Lionsgate’s Michael and Focus Features’ Obsession.

Summary

Parsons Directs Backrooms

Kane Parsons, 20, became the youngest director to helm a major studio film with Backrooms.
The film adapts the 4Chan-originated Backrooms internet myth into a horror-sci-fi story.
Chiwetel Ejiofor portrays Clark, a furniture salesman who discovers a portal to an endless office maze.
Backrooms holds an 89% Rotten Tomatoes score and a 7.1 IMDb rating.
Critics praise it as one of the best recent horror films for its suspense-driven approach.

History

Historical Context

The Blair Witch Project debuted in 1999, a $35,000-$60,000 independent horror that earned $248.6 million worldwide and pioneered viral internet marketing with millions of website hits. Its sleeper-hit success convinced studios such as Lionsgate to fund low-budget genre films, a model echoed today by Kane Parsons’ and its teen-driven horror Backrooms.

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Backrooms Smashes Records

Backrooms became A24’s highest-grossing film worldwide, surpassing the $191 million record set by Marty Supreme.
The movie earned $212 million at the global box office in its first 10 days.
It opened with an A24-record weekend of between $85 million and $90 million.
The film, directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, stars Renate Reinsve and Chiwetel Ejiofor and has an 88 % Rotten Tomatoes rating.

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