What Backrooms' Box Office Means For The Future Of The Franchise

It was a banner weekend at the box office. Director Kane Parsons, at the ripe young age of 20, just topped the charts with his feature directorial debut "Backrooms." But this wasn't just the run-of-the-mill, good opening weekend for a horror movie. Rather, this is one of the most surprisingly huge openings of the modern era. It has all but secured a spot for Parsons as the architect of horror's next big cinematic franchise.

Hailing for A24, "Backrooms" opened to an astoundingly huge $81.4 million domestically. Those are just estimates, though, so that number could very well climb even higher once the final totals are tallied. The movie also pulled in $36.5 million overseas, giving it a $118 million global start against a mere $10 million production budget. It's a new opening weekend record for A24, beating "Civil War" (which opened to just shy of $26 million in 2024). That's shattering a record, if ever there were such a thing.

It already looked like "Backrooms" was going to be the biggest surprise box office hit of the summer even a couple of weeks ago. Less than two weeks ago, high-end estimates for this movie were still hovering in the $35 million range. The fact that it opened north of $80 million, something very few movies of any kind have done over the past handful of years, is beyond surprising. When we consider a $10 million film made by a director who isn't even old enough to legally have a beer in the United States is behind this current phenomenon, it gets even more eye-popping.

At this point, it's not a matter of if A24 and Parsons turn this into a multi-movie franchise, it's a matter of how quickly they get the ball rolling. Negotiations are undoubtedly already underway.

"Backrooms" is based on the YouTube series "The Backrooms," which itself began as a creepypasta that originated on various online forums. The movie focuses on a strange doorway that appears in the basement of a furniture store, with Chiwetel Ejiofor ("The Martian") and Renate Reinsve ("Sentimental Value") leading the cast.

Kane Parsons didn't invent the lore that inspired "Backrooms," but he created what is now the definitive version of it, which all started with his viral YouTube shorts. This is all part of a growing, undeniable trend of YouTubers breaking into mainstream Hollywood. "Obsession" and its wild box office performance cemented the trend, and now "Backrooms" has accelerated it beyond anyone's most ambitious estimations.

A24 is going to try to lock Parsons down asap. Fortunately, Parsons has already made it clear that he wants this to become a multi-movie franchise. It wouldn't be surprising if several sequels are planned at the same time, not unlike how the "Halloween" (2018) follow-ups "Halloween Kills" and "Halloween Ends" were announced at the same time.

The fact that Parsons did this on a $10 million budget can't be ignored. This movie is already wildly profitable for all involved. Even if A24 quadruples the budget, the now-inevitable sequel is all but guaranteed to turn a profit, especially since the first "Backrooms" movie has yet to make its way into many international territories. At this point, the sky is the limit in terms of its final box office tally.

What comes next, specifically, is unknown. But rest assured, this is just the beginning of a new, massive property. Gen Z has come for Hollywood.

"Backrooms" is in theaters now.