‘Backrooms’ and ‘Obsession’ draw Gen Z to theaters

LOS ANGELES – The sci-fi horror movie “Backrooms” opened with $81.4 million in North American theaters this weekend, blowing away the competition and setting a record for A24, the 14-year-old studio behind such critical favorites as “Marty Supreme” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

It’s an astonishing total for an independent film with a modest budget, directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons. Based on a web series created by Parsons, “Backrooms” stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve as a furniture store owner and his therapist who discover a dimension of liminal spaces accessed through the store’s basement.

‘Obsession’

Another modestly budgeted independent film, “Obsession,” came in second with $26.4 million in its third weekend in theaters, Comscore reported.

“Star Wars: Mandalorian & Grogu” grossed $25 million Friday through Sunday in its second weekend, a sharp drop-off from its $100 million opening over the four-day Memorial Day weekend.

“Michael” was fourth with $11.7 million in its sixth week, and has now grossed nearly $340 million domestically.

“The Breadwinner,” a family comedy starring standup Nate Bargatze, opened in fifth place with $7.5 million.

Rounding out the top 10 releases were “The Devil Wears Prada 2” ($5.9 million), “Pressure” ($5.7 million), “The Sheep Detectives” ($4.6 million), “Passenger” ($2.6 million) and “Mortal Kombat II” ($2 million).

This image released by Focus Features shows Brendan Fraser, left, and Andrew Scott in a scene from “Pressure.” (Focus Features via AP)

$179 million box office haul

This weekend’s overall three-day box office haul was estimated at $179 million. The year-to-date total is $3.688 billion — up 11% from the figure at this time last year, according to Comscore.

Young audiences turned out in droves to movie theaters around the country this weekend. It wasn’t for the big budget “Star Wars” movie, “The Mandalorian and Grogu, ” which fell sharply in its second weekend, however, but for a small budget horror from a 20-year-old first-time filmmaker that began on the internet.

‘Backrooms’

“Backrooms,” released by A24 in 3,442 locations in the U.S. and Canada, made an astonishing $81.5 million in its first three days in theaters, according to studio estimates on Sunday. That’s just a few hundred thousand dollars shy of what “The Mandalorian and Grogu” earned in its first three days last weekend; And “Backrooms,” which was directed and co-written by YouTube creator Kane Parsons, cost only $10 million to produce.

The wild success of “Backrooms” didn’t even hurt “Obsession,” which is also the directorial debut of a YouTuber, Curry Barker, who is only 26. Three weekends in, “Obsession,” a movie that cost less than $1 million to make, still hasn’t dropped below its opening weekend earnings. This weekend, it was up 10% with another $26.4 million for a second-place finish, leaving Star Wars, the legacy franchise movie from the veteran filmmaker and the Walt Disney Studios, in third with $25 million.

New great hope

YouTube might not be the death of movie theaters after all. If this weekend is any indication, it could be the industry’s new great hope.

This is a weekend where theaters also hosted the debuts of “The Breadwinner,” a PG-rated family comedy starring the popular comedian Nate Bargatze, and “Pressure,” a solid World War II drama about the tense 72 hours before D-Day with Oscar-winner Brendan Fraser. But it was the 20-something YouTubers that drew the most crowds. And both “Backrooms” and “Obsession” were produced by Blumhouse-Atomic Monster.

Abhijay Prakash, the president of Blumhouse-Atomic Monster said that the weekend is both staggering and validation of their business, which has from the beginning championed original horror movies that appeal to younger audiences, and generated over $10 billion in box office to date.

Young creators

He noted that they’ve made a point of looking for up and coming talent on YouTube and, knowing how Hollywood works, this weekend likely inspire a wave of copycats. But beyond that, he’s encouraged by the fact that the young creators who’ve already had enormous success online still value the cultural currency of theatrical movies.

“It’s a great sign of relevance for us,” Prakash said. “With some distance, we’ll probably look back at this as a real turning point.”

“Backrooms” started as a creepypasta — an internet-generated urban legend — before Parsons turned the concept, about a never-ending expanse of dull, depressing rooms and hallways, into a viral web series, which he made with the help of the open-source 3D graphics software Blender. It caught the attention of James Wan and Shawn Levy’s production companies who were interested in taking it to the next level; Soon a movie was in development with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve starring.

$118 million global haul

It wasn’t just a domestic hit either; Including international showings, “Backrooms” has already made $118 million globally. A24 said Parsons is now the youngest director to have a No. 1 film globally. It’s also a record opening for the studio, whose previous high-water mark was “Civil War,” which opened to $25.5 million in 2024.

The R-rated film was well-reviewed by critics and drew a young and diverse crowd to theaters. According to exit polls, 86% of the audience was under 35, more than half were under 25 and 44% were under 21. Many attended in groups and there were reports of sold-out shows, packed theaters and repeat viewings.

Audiences gave it a less-than-stellar B- CinemaScore, however.

But the buzz is still creating a frenzy of all ages, even teenagers, wanting to see “Backrooms.” Some theaters have even posted employees outside of the screens to make sure that anyone under 21 is accompanied by an adult. The same is true for the R-rated “Obsession,” which has now made $104.7 million in North America, and is now Focus Features’ highest grossing domestic release.

Luis Olloqui, the CEO of Cinépolis USA, which operates 26 theaters across the country — most of which are dine-in — said they’ve seen sellouts at many of their locations for both movies.

“We were a little worried that they would be competing for the same audience. It’s not the case,” Olloqui said. “It shows that when we have the right content, people from all ages are willing to go to the theater.” (With CNS and AP reports)

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