Young Moviegoers Power Backrooms to $82 Million in Ticket Sales

Will young people ever come back to the movies? That question has shadowed Hollywood since the Covid-19 pandemic, with skeptics insisting that theaters have become relics for a generation raised on streaming.The answer came, resoundingly, over the weekend.“Backrooms,” a psychological horror flick from a 20-year-old YouTube creator turned filmmaker, collected an astounding $82 million in North America from Thursday through Sunday — with roughly 86 percent of the audience under the age of 35, according to PostTrak, a film industry research service.(About 44 percent was under 21.) “Backrooms” cost A24 and Chernin Entertainment about $10 million to make, not including marketing; it was marketed mostly with an inexpensive online campaign.“Backrooms” was No.

1, making its director, Kane Parsons, the youngest filmmaker in Hollywood history to achieve that ranking, according to A24.The previous record-holder, Josh Trank, was 27 when his “Chronicle” topped the box office in 2012.Analysts had predicted last week that “Backrooms” would collect $60 million in North America over the weekend.

Overseas, “Backrooms” took in an additional $36.5 million.The colossal turnout for “Backrooms” — it was the biggest debut for an A24 film in the studio’s 14-year history, by a factor of three — adds to evidence that teenagers and young adults will gladly go to theaters for the right offering.“Obsession,” a comedy-horror-thriller mash-up about the perils of romantic fixation by Focus Features, has sold about $105 million in tickets since its May 15 release.

About 78 percent of the opening-weekend audience for “Obsession” was under the age of 35, according to PostTrak.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your p...