“Backrooms” is officially A24’s highest-grossing worldwide release, as well as the studio’s first movie to surpass $200 million in ticket sales.
The breakout horror hit, directed by YouTuber Kane Parsons, has generated $212 million globally including $135 million in North America. Those returns have surpassed the lifetime haul of Timothee Chalamet’s “Marty Supreme” ($191 million), which previously stood as the indie studio’s biggest movie at the worldwide box office. What’s more impressive is “Backrooms” has only been playing in theaters for 10 days.
Fueled by enthusiastic Gen Z crowds, “Backrooms” has set all kinds of records for A24, the specialty company behind arthouse favorites like “Everything, Everywhere All at Once,” “Lady Bird” and “Moonlight.” The film, based on Parsons’ popular web series about eerie and seemingly endless rooms and structures known as liminal spaces, opened last weekend and secured the studio’s largest ever debut with $81 million domestically, more than tripling the record of Alex Garland’s 2024 thriller “Civil War” ($25.5 million). In its second weekend, ticket sales declined by 70% which still amounted to a stellar $25.8 million from 3,565 theaters between Friday and Sunday. A24 and Chernin Entertainment co-financed “Backrooms” for roughly $10 million, so it’s already hugely profitable.
At the international box office, “Backrooms” has earned $77 million from 57 territories. It broke opening weekend records for A24 in 41 countries including Spain and ranked No. 1 in 42 markets across Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand and Italy. Latin America is leading all overseas territories with $24.2 million to date, making “Backrooms” the studio’s highest-grossing title ever in the region. In Australia and New Zealand, the movie surpassed “Marty Supreme” to become A24’s highest-grossing title with $7.9 million.
“Backrooms” follows a furniture store owner (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who finds a secret doorway that leads him to a seemingly endless stretch of nondescript rooms. When he disappears, his therapist (Renate Reinsve) ventures into the unknown to rescue him. Though a sequel hasn’t been confirmed, Parsons has already teased the idea of turning “Backrooms” into a film franchise.
