A24's 'Backrooms' earns $100 million, after less than a week in theaters

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Back in December, “Marty Supreme” earned the title of A24’s highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office with $96 million.But in a matter of days since its opening weekend, “Backrooms” has unseated the reigning pingpong champion.

The low-budget horror flick, directed by YouTuber Kane Parsons, hit $100 million on Wednesday after just six days in theaters — a rare feat for any arthouse film.“Backrooms” dominated the box office last weekend, opening with $81.5 million in the U.S.

and Canada and $118 million worldwide.It marked A24’s highest-opening weekend ever, outranking Alex Garland’s 2024 film “Civil War,” which earned a $25.5-million debut.

Since its release, the film has made $144 million, according to the studio.Hollywood Inc.

Low-budget horror films ‘Backrooms’ and ‘Obsession’ are leading the box office, showing the power of internet culture on the big screen.Over the years, A24 has established a cult following through its emphasis on original storytelling and artsy production style.Much of the indie studio’s success comes from its ability to foster and engage with internet discourse, as evidenced by the recent Zendaya/Robert Pattinson film “The Drama.” And “Backrooms” is no exception.Parsons, its 20-year-old director, already had a well-established following online.

He is best known for a YouTube series in which he would create eerie, abandoned liminal spaces in the CGI platform Blender and explore them on video.This haunting series, which has over 200 million views, was a part of a larger online movement on platforms like Reddit and TikTok that became fixated on mysterious spaces.Drawing on this online obsession, the plot of “Backrooms” follows Chiwetel Ejiofor, a furniture store owner who finds a secret portal that leads him to an endless rabbit hole of indistinguishable rooms.The record-breaking success has already e...