Backrooms and Obsession Lead the Box Office as Audiences Show Up for Low-Budget Horror

The Backrooms, an A24 adaptation of an internet creepypasta phenomenon, dominated the box office with an estimated $81.45 million domestic opening weekend and $118 million worldwide. Directed by 20-year-old YouTuber Kane Pixels, the film marks A24’s strongest theatrical debut and makes Parsons the youngest director to achieve a number-one box office position.

The film’s success reflects mainstream audiences’ appetite for horror originating from internet culture. The Backrooms began as a single eerie image that evolved into an expansive collaborative horror mythology featuring endless yellow hallways and liminal spaces. The project’s critical acclaim helped drive strong opening weekend numbers, significantly outperforming major franchise releases including Disney’s Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, which fell to third place in its second weekend.

The Backrooms’ box office dominance arrives alongside the theatrical success of Obsession, another low-budget horror film, suggesting renewed audience interest in unconventional horror storytelling. Meanwhile, the franchise has spawned extensive digital adaptations—Steam hosts over 500 Backrooms-related titles, with approximately 150 confirmed playable games. During the theatrical release week, four additional Backrooms games launched on Steam, continuing the steady proliferation of fan-made content on the platform.

The film’s trajectory from internet phenomenon to record-breaking theatrical release exemplifies shifting entertainment landscapes where web-native content and young creators achieve mainstream success. The project demonstrates strong audience demand for horror and adaptations of online cultural phenomena, while validating unconventional paths to Hollywood recognition.

Backrooms and Obsession Lead the Box Office as Audiences Show Up for Low-Budget Horror

Sources