A24 is celebrating a major milestone this weekend. Backrooms, a horror thriller from 20-year-old filmmaker Kane Parsons, is poised to demolish the indie studio’s box office records while delivering one of the most impressive horror debuts in years.
Discover how Backrooms is breaking box office records for A24, delivering a thrilling horror experience like no other.
The film raked in $38 million on Friday alone—including preview screenings—and is now expected to finish the weekend with somewhere between $85 million and $90 million domestically. That crushes A24’s previous record holder, Civil War, which opened to $25.5 million.
The film draws its inspiration from The Backrooms, a viral internet horror phenomenon that Parsons himself helped popularize through his YouTube series. What started as a niche creepypasta has become a global sensation, and now the filmmaker has adapted it for the big screen. The plot centers on a furniture store owner who stumbles upon a mysterious doorway leading to an endless, nightmarish maze of bizarre rooms.
The cast includes Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve, alongside supporting roles from Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, and Lukita Maxwell. Most remarkably, the film was made for less than $10 million—a bargain considering its blockbuster trajectory.
Parsons’ journey to this moment reads like a Hollywood fairytale. The young director gained traction on YouTube before catching the eye of major studios. He ultimately partnered with A24 for his feature debut, with backing from horror veteran James Wan and producer Shawn Levy.
Industry insiders say Backrooms proves that internet-born properties can succeed on the big screen when given authentic treatment. The opening also underscores how digital creators are reshaping mainstream filmmaking—a YouTube project competing head-to-head with major studio releases.
If the numbers hold, Backrooms won’t just set an A24 opening record. It could quickly climb into the studio’s all-time highest-grossing films, marking a historic win for both the company and its youngest feature director.
