Kane Parsons' Backrooms burst out of the gate with $38.4 million from its first day and previews on Saturday morning, putting the film on track for an $85 million to $88 million opening weekend and giving A24 a launch that could rewrite the company's box office history.
That kind of number is why people were talking about Backrooms before the weekend was over. Some rivals were already floating a $90 million opening, and one attendee at the AERO Los Angeles premiere said earlier this month that he had already seen the film three times. The turnout was broad but young: women under 25 were the biggest demo at 24%, while the biggest age group overall was 18-24 at 43%, followed by 25-34 at 25% and 13-17 at 20%.
The first-day total outpaced Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, which posted $33.7 million last weekend before reaching an $81.6 million three-day opening, and Backrooms' estimated global start was pegged between $121 million and $124 million. Offshore, the film was expected to launch in 50 territories with a $36 million outlook, putting it in position to challenge Mandalorian for No. 1 at the worldwide weekend box office.
A24 has not had anything close to this kind of opening before. The release was being described as far and away a record first day and opening weekend for the company, with some of its strongest business coming from viewers under 35, who made up 88% of the audience. In internal polls, more than 50% of the crowd said they came because it is one of the studio's films, 30% came for Parsons, and 58% came for the Backrooms creepypasta itself. The top-grossing venue was AMC Burbank in Los Angeles with $93,000, and the movie was playing evenly across the country.
The part that keeps the numbers from looking too neat is the reception score. Backrooms carried a B- CinemaScore even as PostTrak exits showed 53% definite recommend, 68% positive and three stars, a mix that suggests the opening is being powered as much by repeat curiosity and internet-born fandom as by broad satisfaction. That split matters because the film's audience is not behaving like a conventional franchise crowd; it is behaving like a crowd that came with a preexisting relationship to the material, and came fast.
That is what makes the weekend worth watching after the Saturday headline fades. The final domestic number will show whether Backrooms merely opened huge or whether it can hold enough of that early rush to turn an internet-made curiosity into a lasting theatrical hit. For A24, the answer will arrive once Saturday and Sunday receipts are counted.
