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 ping-pong champ.
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.
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 earned 10 times its original budget, as A24 and Chernin Entertainment co-financed the project for roughly $10 million. Parsons is also now the youngest filmmaker to top the box office.
“Backrooms” is only the latest indie horror film, made by a YouTube creator to make it big at the box office. Earlier this year, YouTube veteran Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach was able to put “Iron Lung” in theaters and opened at over $18 million. The sci-fi horror movie was entirely self-funded and self-distributed for $3 million.
Focus Features’ “Obsession” is yet another hot ticket at the box office. The dark romance horror was directed by Curry Barker, a 26-year-old with a background in YouTube sketch comedy. Last weekend, the movie hauled in $26.4 million in its third weekend in theaters, up 10% from the previous weekend’s total. The film, which had a production budget of less than $1 million, has grossed more than $110 million domestically for a global total of $155 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
L.A. Times staff writer Samantha Masunaga contributed to this report.
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