A24’s low-budget YouTube-creator-driven horror film vanquished its competition at the global box office, setting a new record for original horror in multiple markets.
The horror genre’s remarkable dominance of 2026 continued this past weekend as A24’s ‘Backrooms’ delivered a stunning $118 million global opening, trouncing the competition and setting box office records in a string of international markets.
The film, which taps into the viral internet mythology of the Backrooms — a liminal, unsettling alternate dimension that became a generational cultural touchstone on social media and YouTube — opened to the biggest debut in A24’s history across a remarkable range of territories. According to Screen International, it set opening-weekend records for original horror in North America, the UK and Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, the Middle East, Scandinavia, Taiwan, Israel, and Turkey simultaneously — a sweeping international performance that speaks to the genuinely global resonance of its source material.
In the UK and Ireland alone, the film posted a £4.3 million opening, another market record for original horror. Meanwhile, competitor ‘Obsession’ — another horror release currently in wide release — has reached a cumulative $148 million globally, confirming that the genre is not merely having a moment but is in the midst of an outright resurgence.
The film’s origins in YouTube creator culture have been a central talking point throughout its rollout. Jason Blum and James Wan, both horror industry stalwarts, have been publicly discussing the year’s horror landscape, and the involvement of YouTube-native creators in productions like ‘Backrooms’ represents a notable evolution in how genre films are being developed and marketed in 2026.
It is worth contextualizing the achievement within the broader horror landscape this year. ‘Scream 7’ earlier in 2026 delivered what Deadline described as a franchise high of $214 million globally, while ‘Obsession’ has built steadily to its strong total. The combination of franchise-driven sequels and original IP performing at this level simultaneously is a phenomenon the industry has not witnessed in years.
For A24, a studio that built its reputation on awards-season darlings and arthouse cinema, the ‘Backrooms’ result underscores an increasingly confident commercial arm. The studio has been growing its genre portfolio steadily, and this weekend’s numbers suggest it is now fully capable of competing with the major studios on blockbuster terms when the material is right.
Industry observers will now watch closely to see how the film’s legs hold up in coming weeks, particularly with ‘Disclosure Day,’ ‘Supergirl,’ and other major studio releases entering the marketplace in the days ahead.
