There are going to be a couple of things to watch very closely over the next several days, namely how well Obsession and The Backrooms perform during their next weekend at the box office now that some fresh competition is arriving.
Remember, Obsession was originally scheduled to hit streaming this week, but that date was pushed back due to its continued success in theaters. Meanwhile, The Backrooms just keeps plugging away, posting surprisingly strong numbers even on weeknights. Neither film appears ready to disappear just yet.
This week, however, brings us a pair of nostalgia-fueled challengers. One is built on 1980s superheroes and the other on early 2000s comedy. Whether either one connects with modern audiences remains to be seen.
Scary Movie 6 premieres this weekend, as does Masters of the Universe. Both films have generated anticipation and, in theory, should attract decent crowds. Yet early projections suggest that the He-Man adaptation could be surprisingly ill-fated at the box office, while Scary Movie 5 may not be nearly as funny as audiences had hoped.
While regular moviegoers have not yet fully weighed in, paid reviewers certainly have. For the most part, the reviews for Masters of the Universe have been lukewarm, while Scary Movie 6 has been getting hit even harder.
If we were to compare them to beverages, Masters of the Universe would be a flat seltzer water and Scary Movie 6 would be that same seltzer after somebody microwaved it.
As a matter of fact, when comparing the two films, Masters of the Universe should easily dominate the box office. The question is whether Generation X and older Millennials can convince their kids to care about He-Man. The kids may not be all right when it comes to 1980s nostalgia. The decade is long gone, and nostalgia for it may have finally started running out of steam.
Then again, Scary Movie has its own problem. If the jokes don’t make people laugh, nothing else really matters.
There is one important caveat, however. Critics have never been particularly fond of movies like Scary Movie. They didn’t like the earlier Scary Movie films. They didn’t like many of the National Lampoon’s movies. They weren’t exactly champions of The Naked Gun either. Irreverent comedies that exist primarily to make audiences laugh have often received a chilly reception from reviewers.
We’ll see how it all plays out.
Maybe the critics are right.
Maybe audiences will disagree.
And maybe, just maybe, Obsession and The Backrooms will once again dominate the weekend.
We just saw The Backrooms, and I’m left sort of speechless.
As the credits rolled, I found myself paying less attention to the screen and more attention to the people around me. The entire theater just sat there. Nobody rushed for the exits. Nobody immediately grabbed their phones. People looked like they were trying to process what they had just experienced.
Let me first say that I saw this at a relatively packed theater on a Sunday afternoon. Kids, adults, entire families. People who easily could have gone to see The Mandalorian instead chose The Backrooms, and that alone showcases why this movie is on track to make more than $80 million this weekend.
Kane Parsons, you did a heck of a job.
One debate we have seen all over social media and TikTok is whether you need to watch the original YouTube shorts or know all of the Backrooms lore before seeing this movie. I don’t think you do.
If you’ve seen the shorts, you’ll probably catch some Easter eggs and appreciate certain moments a little more. But prior knowledge is not required to enjoy what was created here.
At the same time, even if you know the lore, you still may not completely understand what you’ve just watched.
Here’s my interpretation.
We create the Backrooms.
The movie seems to be about how we create the insanity inside our own minds. It’s about loops and about obsession. It’s about continually wandering into places we know we shouldn’t go.
There were several scenes that genuinely left me anxious. Not jump scares, either. Those weren’t the moments that got me.
One scene involving the giant pirate-like flesh eater with its impossibly long arms reaching toward Dr Mary Kline felt claustrophobic and unsettling. Other scenes used distorted faces, fuzzy imagery, and shaky camera work that made you question whether your own eyes were playing tricks on you.
The movie was effective in a very unusual way.
It made me despise the Backrooms while simultaneously wanting to stay there.
I can’t really explain it any better than that.
Just like the characters who repeatedly venture deeper into the Backrooms because they need to discover what’s around the next corner, I think that’s exactly how many people in the audience felt. The place is terrifying, but it’s also impossible to stop exploring.
The found footage elements and flashbacks were probably the most effective use of found footage since The Blair Witch Project. The acting was so convincing that you almost leave the theater wondering if the Backrooms could somehow be real.
On my way to the bathroom after the movie, part of me felt like I might accidentally slip through a wall.
What fascinated me most, though, was the audience.
This was a packed house. The kind of crowd that twenty years ago would have definitely filled a theater for a major Star Wars release.
The times have changed.
Parents who brought younger children looked somewhat bewildered, as if they had just spent two hours watching something they didn’t fully understand. The younger kids seemed entertained but weren’t entirely sure what they had seen either ..
There were a lot of teenagers in the audience. I expected talking and cell phones lighting up.
There was none of that.
During several scenes, you could hear a pin drop.
There were also moments where the audience laughed. Not because the movie became a comedy, but because some situations were so strange and uncomfortable that people almost laughed in spite of themselves. The humor never undercut the horror. The movie maintained its credibility as a genuinely unsettling experience from beginning to end.
I’ve seen comparisons to Alfred Hitchcock, and honestly, that’s fair.
For people who don’t understand the movie, don’t want to understand the movie, or simply aren’t interested in trying to interpret it, that’s fine. They probably won’t watch it again.
Others may find themselves returning to the theater more than once.
There’s something about that buzzing yellow aura, those endless hallways, and the stained carpets that almost makes you feel like you can smell them.
The long-term success of this movie will depend on word of mouth. The initial excitement was clearly there this weekend. Fans, parents, teenagers, and entire families came out in force.
I’ve seen some people absolutely hate it.
I’ve seen others love it.
Put me firmly in the camp that loved it.
I honestly think it’s one of the greatest horror films I’ve ever seen.
Not because it was the scariest or had the best monsters with a big budget, but because it was more than a movie.
It was an experience.
For two hours, you felt like you were there.
Kane Parsons did an amazing job.
And perhaps the best review I heard wasn’t inside the theater at all.
It happened afterward in the parking lot.
On a bright, sunny early summer afternoon, families were heading back to their cars. Younger movie goers were talking about their favorite scenes. Parents were looking at each other with confused expressions.
Then one grandmother, walking away from the theater with her family, finally broke the silence.
“I’ll call you later. I need to take a break because I don’t know what the f*** that just was.”
Maybe none of us do.
But it’s the Backrooms.
It’s meant to be explored no matter what the f*** it is ..
Box office watchers are saying to prepare for a possible shock this weekend.. both BACKROOMS and OBSESSION continue to score high and rake in cash … Meanwhile the 2000s called and asked for the Mandalorian back..
MORE..
Kane Parsons has won over a younger generation.. his film is connecting with the under-35 demo (a massive 87% turnout since Thursday night) with Backrooms now on track to hoard a $76M to $79M after a $33M-$35M Friday at 3,442 theaters, which includes Thursday night’s $10.4M. Some are expecting an $80 mil opening!
But even bigger is Curry Barker’s horror world..
A24/Chernin Entertainment co-financed movie isn’t even hurting business for Focus Features’ Curry Barker Obsession, which is going over $100M in its third frame after what’s shaping up to be a 3-day of $25M at 2,780 theaters …
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu has seen a 69% drop from its first week..
What started as a bizarre internet creepypasta and YouTube phenomenon has now turned into one of the most anticipated horror films of the summer. Backrooms, directed by young filmmaker Kane Parsons, is being predicted to have a potentially big box office weekend coming..
Parsons, known online for his eerie Backrooms videos that exploded in popularity on YouTube, managed to turn a simple concept of endless yellow hallways and mundane existential dread into a full-fledged feature film backed by a24films..
Some internet users began speculating that Parsons did not truly direct the film himself and that someone else may have secretly taken over production behind the scenes.
The rumor spread across social media quickly, with some people claiming that a young creator like Parsons could not have realistically handled a movie of this scale.
Mark Duplass spoke out.. he pushed back on those claims and defended Parsons. Duplass confirmed that Kane Parsons absolutely directed the film and that the speculation was absurd.
In many ways, the rumors almost speak to the disbelief some people still have that a young internet creator could successfully transition from YouTube horror shorts into a major theatrical release. But Parsons already proved with his online work that he understands atmosphere, tension, and the kind of surreal horror that modern audiences connect with.
In the end, Backrooms represents something bigger than just another horror movie release. It is yet another example of internet culture and independent creators finding their way into mainstream Hollywood.
What started as grainy videos uploaded online may now become one of the surprise horror success stories of the year.
All eyes are on the summer box office movies. Predictions have already begun that perhaps Masters of the Universe could come in under projections, but we’ll see…the press for the film has been good so far. Another upcoming film, however, has been operating in a much more low-key fashion, and that film is Backrooms.
Directed by Kane Parsons, the movie has quickly become one of the more fascinating horror stories of the summer. Many online know Parsons better as Kane Pixels from YouTube, where his eerie and surreal Backrooms videos gained millions of views and helped modernize internet horror for a younger audience. What started with creepypasta lore and grainy found-footage style videos may now be turning into a legitimate theatrical box office hit.
Several websites, including Box Office Theory, are predicting that Backrooms could bring in somewhere between $25 and $33 million domestically during its opening weekend of May 29th through the 31st. That is a pretty bullish number, and if the film finds strong word of mouth, people are already saying Backrooms could emerge as an early summer sleeper hit.
What began as plain old mundane horror rooted in creepypastas and YouTube culture has now evolved into a major feature film. Despite some naysayers claiming Parsons could never pull off a movie on this scale, he did exactly that.
He has quickly become one of the younger directors in horror who has been changing things to better match the audiences of today while also proving that genuinely good material can still rise from unconventional places on the internet.
In the end, Backrooms is currently being projected to bring in somewhere between $71 million and $79 million during its total run in the United States and Canada. That would still place it below Marty Supreme, which reportedly brought in $96 million, but Backrooms may have a tougher road when it comes to long-term staying power. The movie will eventually find itself competing with heavy hitters like Masters of the Universe, Scary Movie 6, Disclosure Day, and Toy Story 6 throughout June.
It is a loaded summer full of potential blockbuster hits…but one of the earliest surprises of the season could very well end up being Backrooms.
The concept of the Backrooms has always been really cool. For some horror fans, it’s been a very niche genre .. very eerie, very visible, very visceral, and very visual. There’s something about the quiet hum of the Backrooms that’s unsettling, yet somehow calming.
A lot of people actually use Backrooms videos to fall asleep at night, playing them endlessly on a loop on YouTube. Others just have a weird version of comfort from seeing the Backrooms because they feel like they’ve been there before. There’s something oddly familiar about those yellow walls and fluorescent lights. It taps into something subconscious.
Now that concept is heading to the big screen.
The upcoming film Backrooms is scheduled for theatrical release on May 29, 2026. It’s being released by A24 and directed by Kane Parsons, the same creator behind the viral YouTube series that helped bring the modern Backrooms mythos into mainstream horror conversation.
Parsons originally began creating the Backrooms shorts as a teenager, and yes — he was just 19 years old when he was hired to direct the feature adaptation. That alone is kind of incredible. The screenplay was written by Roberto Patino and Will Soodik, and the cast includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell, and Avan Jogia.
The film reportedly centers on a therapist whose patient disappears into a mysterious dimension beyond reality and she enters that bizarre, endless space to find them.
This movie may not necessarily be a huge hit. But it definitely has its share of people who are looking forward to it. We’re hopeful that it will be a hit because we’ve always loved the concept as much as other people have too.
Plus, we’re in a new era of horror. A new era of movie-making. Just the idea that the person who created this film was 19 while this was being filmed for a 21st-century release and that’s really cool.
Before one o’clock, of course, he can’t have any champagne to celebrate a wide release. At least not legally. But we should all celebrate new directors and new people in the industry and also homages to a really cool horror genre.
Because whether you find the Backrooms terrifying or comforting… that hum is about to get a lot louder.
