Backrooms Film $10M, Directed by 20‑Year‑Old Kane
SkimNews Take
The "Backrooms" film's box office success demonstrates how a compelling, low-budget internet concept can be effectively scaled into a profitable mainstream entertainment product.
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- Backrooms has grossed more than $10 million in preview screenings, positioning it as a box‑office hit.
- Kane Parsons directed the feature at age 20, marking his debut after creating a 22‑video YouTube series that amassed over 25 million views and 3 million subscribers.
- A24 released the horror film starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Avan Jogia, and Lukita Maxwell.
- Will Soodik co‑wrote the screenplay, bringing experience from series such as Westworld, Ash vs Evil Dead, and Homeland.
- The Backrooms series—grainy, found‑footage‑style videos of fictional researchers exploring liminal spaces—can be streamed in full on the Kane Pixels YouTube channel.
Why it matters: A24 and Kane Parsons stand to profit from the film’s early $10 million preview earnings, proving that a meme‑born YouTube horror series can attract mainstream audiences and generate substantial box‑office revenue, while the involvement of veteran writer Will Soodik adds industry credibility to the project.
