Horror movie ‘Backrooms’ makes $118M, breaks multiple records

Gen Z filmmakers are officially taking over the box office. This weekend, 20-year-old director Kane Parsons’ feature debut, Backrooms, smashed expectations by bringing in $81 million domestically and $118 million globally.

Based on Parsons’s hit YouTube series, the film starring Oscar nominees Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve, transports viewers into a nightmare of endless, empty office rooms.

What makes this triumph even more impressive is its modest $10 million production budget.

The horror movie also set several box-office records on its debut. It secured the biggest opening weekend in movie studio A24’s history, crowning Parsons as the youngest director to helm a No. 1 box office movie, and marking the biggest debut ever for an original horror film.

According to Deadline, Parsons is working on a sequel to the sci-fi horror film.

Parsons isn’t the only internet creator winning big. Obsession, a horror film directed by fellow Gen Z YouTuber Curry Barker under a budget of less than $1 million, brought in nearly $80 million in its May debut. It is now projected to bring in $150 million globally.

Meanwhile, traditional Hollywood blockbusters took a massive hit. There was a 70% drop in ticket sales for the Star Wars spinoff, The Mandalorian and Grogu.