The North American box office has a new champion, with the film marking Kane Parsons' directorial debut at the age of 20 grossing beyond analysts' expectations, setting multiple records and impressing critics as well, Variety reports.
Produced by acclaimed independent studio A24, the horror film “Backrooms” grossed $81 million in North America in its opening weekend. With the receipts from the rest of the world it reached a total of 118 million dollars.
Success is huge for Parsons, a 20-year-old YouTuber. Known by the moniker “Kane Pixels”, which he used for his channel name, he previously experimented with short films and “found footage” videos that have garnered tens of millions of views on YouTube.
Parsons has already said he's exploring the idea of turning “Backrooms” into a film franchise, though he hasn't officially announced a sequel to his debut feature yet.
What is the movie “Backrooms” about
Based on the popular online series created by Parsons, “Backrooms” follows the story of a furniture store owner (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) who discovers a secret door that leads to a seemingly endless expanse of anonymous rooms.
After he disappears, his therapist ventures into the unknown to save him. Her role is played by the Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve, Sebastian Stan's co-star for “Fjord”, Cristian Mungiu's feature film that won the Palm d'Or prize at the Cannes film festival last month.
Reinsve was nominated for an Academy Award earlier this year for her performance in “Sentimental Value,” but the Best Supporting Actress award ultimately went to veteran Amy Madigan for her role in the horror film “Weapons.”
Unlike most horror films, “Backrooms” also impressed film critics, with the new feature receiving an 89% approval rating from review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
YouTuber's Film Easily Beats 'Civil War' Movie Comment Record
The success of “Backrooms” in its opening weekend was so great that Parsons' film set several box office records.
Among other things, it achieved the biggest debut weekend in the history of A24, the independent studio that in recent years produced or distributed titles such as “Civil War”, the feature film that enjoyed success beyond expectations in cinemas in 2024; “A Different Man”, the title that brought Sebastian Stan his first career Golden Globe last year; “Queer”, the acclaimed film with Daniel Craig in a new role after he gave up that of James Bond; “The Brutalist,” the film for which Adrien Brody won his second career Oscar, also last year.
“Backrooms” has clearly surpassed the record set by Alex Garland's thriller “Civil War” in 2024. The film debuted with $25.5 million in North America and took its entire theatrical run to a global total of $127 million.
“Backrooms” came close to that amount in just its first three days in theaters.
Parsons' film also marked the biggest debut ever for an original horror, as well as the best start for a director on his first non-franchise feature.
Parsons also became the youngest director with a film at the top of the box office. The previous record belonged to American filmmaker Josh Trank, who was 27 when his 2012 psychological drama Chronicle grossed $22 million in its first three days in theaters.
New 'Star Wars' movie crashes at the box office
“The Mandalorian and Grogu,” the new film in the “Star Wars” franchise, grossed just $25 million domestically in Hollywood in its second weekend in theaters.
“It was supposed to be a very strong second weekend, but 'The Mandalorian and Grogu' just fell flat,” analyst Jeff Bock of film consultancy Exhibitor Relations told Variety. “That says more about how this movie was received than it does about the entire Star Wars universe,” he says.
Variety magazine notes that the 70% decline in grosses from its opening weekend is “catastrophic” for a feature film of this magnitude, although some executives inside Disney expected that turning a successful series (“The Mandalorian”) into a “blockbuster” film would be a challenge.
To date, the new chapter of “Star Wars” has grossed a total of $246.6 million worldwide against a production budget of $165 million.
It's a consolation for Disney that the film will be one of the big draws on its Disney+ streaming platform after it ends its theatrical run, not to mention massive Grogu toy sales.
Disney and Lucasfilm are hoping that “Star Wars: Starfighter,” the original adventure slated for next summer, directed by Shawn Levy and starring Ryan Gosling, will be a fresh start for the franchise.
