The upcoming horror film Backrooms is on track to break a box office record for indie studio A24. Set to release in theaters on May 29, this 21 Laps Entertainment and Atomic Monster production directed by Kane Parsons, who some will know better as Kane Pixels from his YouTube channel, was predicted to make just a small splash in its debut. There have been numerous short videos expanding on the Backrooms concept, particularly from Parsons himself, but this is the first major theatrical feature film to draw upon the popular creepypasta. The film follows failed architect Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) as he explores a strange extradimensional space with disturbingly yellow office rooms and his therapist Dr. Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve) who tries to find him after he disappears.
Backrooms could become A24’s biggest domestic opener
As of May 18, Backrooms is predicted to earn $31 million, or between $25 million and $33 million, in its domestic opening weekend from May 29 to May 31. If this $31 million figure holds, it would set a new box office record for domestic openers for A24, despite its track record for producing Oscar-winning features.
This projection is based on the latest report from BoxOfficeTheory, which believes that the film’s “momentum is accelerating in a great way at this stage two weeks out” from its release. Looking at the expansive catalogue for A24, the biggest domestic opener it has ever achieved is the roughly $27 million for Timothée Chalamet’s Marty Supreme in 2025. The studio earned $25 million for 2024’s Civil War, $12 million for 2022’s Everything Everywhere All at Once, $13 million for 2018’s Hereditary, and $14 million for Zendaya’s The Drama that released this year.
That said, this box office prediction for Backrooms is still a range and the site points out that “a lot can happen in two weeks” and that “the studio’s own avid following makes for warranted caution.” A separate May 15 analysis from BoxOffice Pro is not as bullish for the film, believing that it will earn between $20 million and $30 million, which is still within striking distance of the record but not as high.
The horror film has plenty of competition too amid the stacked summer release calendar with Curry Barker’s horror film Obsession already out (and being a massive box office success on its own) and Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu coming out a week before Backrooms on May 22. Both of these movies, along with Sony’s The Breadwinner and Paramount’s Passenger that release on the same day as Backrooms does, could sap some of the walk-up interest for the A24 film.
However, it’s difficult to bet against Backrooms, which has shown incredible growth in its predictions over the last month. Back when BoxOfficeTheory first tracked the film at the start of May, it was only expected to earn $14.5 million to $27 million. Since then, the film has received a lot of attention on social media, particularly on Instagram where a typical post in the last week have garnered well over 100,000 likes. And the official trailer released in late March has earned over 1.3 million likes on the platform.
As for breaking box office records overall, Backrooms is not expected to be A24’s highest-grossing film ever (at the time of writing, at least). The film is predicted to bring in $71 million, in the range of $45 million to $79 million, for its entire run in the US and Canada. By comparison, Marty Supreme brought in $96 million in its domestic haul, so it has tougher hill to climb to surpass that number. In June, Backrooms will need to face off against multiple blockbusters, like Masters of the Universe, Scary Movie 6, Disclosure Day, and Toy Story 6.
