To say that Backrooms had a good opening weekend at the box office would be an insulting understatement. Director Kane Parsons’ feature directorial debut obliterated any and all expectations, posting one of the biggest opening weekends for a horror movie ever. Heck, it was already shattering records before Saturday even rolled around. This may well prove to be a defining moment in Hollywood history.
See also: Director Kane Parsons On The “Incredibly Bizarre” Experience Of The BACKROOMS
Hailing from A24, Backrooms opened to an estimated $81.4 million domestically. Yes, that’s just domestic and it shattered the previous record for an A24 movie, which was held by Civil War ($25.5 million opening/$127 million worldwide). What’s more, Backrooms has already almost taken in more than that movie did in its entire run, as the liminal horror flick pulled in an additional $36.5 million overseas, giving it a staggering $118 million global debut on a mere $10 million budget.
This is all shocking for several reasons. For one, Parsons is just 20 years old and directed the movie at 19. It’s all based on his viral The Backrooms series of YouTube shorts, which were themselves based on a popular creepypasta. Beyond that, just two weeks ago estimates for the movie’s opening weekend were around the $30 million range, which would have been amazing. Then they climbed to $50 million. Then? All bets were off.
Now, Parsons has one of the biggest openings for a horror movie ever, behind only Stephen King’s It ($123.4 million), It Chapter Two ($91 million) and last year’s The Conjuring: Last Rites ($84 million). Parsons and A24 will undoubtedly be hammering out a deal for a sequel/sequels by the end of the sentence, if they aren’t already. Now it’s just a matter of how high this movie flies when all’s said and done.
In Backrooms, a strange doorway appears in the basement of a furniture showroom. Horror ensues. The cast is led by Chiwetel Ejiofor (The Martian, The Life of Chuck) and Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World, Sentimental Value).
Mind you, this is all going down as Obsession continues to be the big horror surprise of 2026, adding another $26.4 million in its third weekend, an increase of 10% compared to weekend two. It has increased its take every weekend thus far, which virtually never happens with a wide release movie such as this in the modern era. To date, Curry Barker’s love-gone-wrong flick has made $104.7 million domestically to go with $43.2 million internationally for a running total of $148 million. Horror is winning.
While horror won, Star Wars lost as The Mandalorian and Grogu dropped 69% in weekend two, taking in just $25 million and falling to third place on the charts. As one of Hollywood’s most storied franchises struggles, two horror movies from first-time feature directors who got their start on YouTuber are thriving. This could be a real line in the sand moment when we reflect upon it years from now.
Backrooms is in theaters now.
