‘Backrooms’ Just Became A24’s First-Ever $400 Million Movie, and It’s Not Slowing Down

A24 has built its reputation on prestige dramas and cult horror darlings, but nothing in the studio’s history prepared anyone for what happened when a YouTube horror short got the feature treatment. What started as internet folklore about an endless, unsettling liminal space has turned into the studio’s single biggest commercial success story.

Months after its Memorial Day debut, that momentum shows no signs of slowing down, with the film continuing to rack up milestones well past its theatrical peak. A late surge overseas has now pushed it into territory no A24 release has ever reached before.

‘Backrooms‘ has just crossed the $400 million mark at the global box office after a surprisingly good late run in Asia, Global Box Office reported, making it the first A24 movie ever to hit that milestone. The achievement caps off a box office run that’s already rewritten the studio’s commercial history multiple times over.

‘Backrooms’ opened to $81.5 million domestically over its Memorial Day weekend debut, eventually climbing past $197 million domestic and now crossing $400 million worldwide. All of that came from a budget reportedly under $10 million, an almost unheard-of return on investment for a studio release of this scale.

That combination of a razor-thin budget and blockbuster-level returns made the film A24’s highest-grossing release ever, as well as one of the biggest horror films of the year overall. Critics responded warmly too, with the film landing an 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes alongside a 76 on Metacritic, numbers that helped fuel sustained word-of-mouth well after its opening weekend.

‘Backrooms’ marked the feature debut of Kane Parsons, who was just 20 years old when the film hit theaters and instantly became the youngest filmmaker ever to land a No. 1 box office hit, surpassing a record previously held by Josh Trank’s ‘Chronicle.’ Parsons got his start as a YouTube creator, with horror shorts that collectively drew more than 200 million views before A24 hired him at 17 to develop the concept into a full feature.

That trajectory from online horror creator to record-breaking studio director gives the film’s success an unusually grassroots origin story compared to most modern blockbusters. A24’s willingness to bet on a teenager with an internet fanbase rather than an established filmmaker has now paid off in a way few could have predicted.

BACKROOMS has just crossed the $400M mark at the global box office after a surprisingly good late run in Asia.

It’s the first @A24 movie to hit that milestone.

Kane Parsons will return to direct a sequel, rumored to be released in 2028. pic.twitter.com/KBBv0QympH

— Global Box Office (@GlobalBoxOffice) September 19, 2026

Parsons will return to direct a sequel, which Global Box Office notes is rumored to be released in 2028. The follow-up will be the director’s next major project, reportedly taking priority over another original film he’d been developing alongside mentor Osgood Perkins.

A24 has also signed Parsons to a three-year deal reportedly worth $65 million, with bonuses tied to delivering two completed features within that window. That level of investment signals just how much confidence the studio now has in Parsons as a long-term creative partner rather than a one-hit success story.

Everything must go. Experience BACKROOMS, a Kane Parsons film starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve. In Theaters 05.29.26

Get tickets – https://t.co/zxO6nlTEfY pic.twitter.com/pQfFTE8M4N

— A24 (@A24) March 31, 2026

Crossing $400 million globally puts ‘Backrooms’ in a category that A24 has never previously touched, marking a genuine turning point for a studio historically associated with smaller, awards-focused releases rather than blockbuster horror. The film’s continued performance in Asia late in its run suggests international audiences are still discovering it well after its domestic box office run wound down.

With a sequel already confirmed and Parsons locked into a multi-year deal, ‘Backrooms’ looks less like a one-off fluke and more like the foundation of a new franchise pillar for the studio. The film’s success also overtook ‘Marty Supreme’ to become A24’s highest-grossing release, a title that had only recently been established before ‘Backrooms’ arrived and quickly rewrote the record books again.

For a studio that built its identity on smaller, character-driven films, having a horror blockbuster now sitting atop its all-time earnings list marks a genuine shift in what A24’s commercial ceiling can look like.

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