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'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

variety.com

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Re: 'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

#111

Post by mrandish »

torben-friis wrote: post #18
petercooper wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This year seems to be turning a bit of a corner. Of the top box office movies so far this year there's Michael, Project Hail Mary, Hoppers, Wuthering Heights, GOAT.. with Obsession and Backrooms rapidly rising. Last year it was basically F1 and Minecraft (and while not sequels, both are arguably well known "franchises" outside of movies - but I guess MJ and Wuthering Heights are too ;-)).

Wuthering Heights was a remake, and Hail Mary was also a safeish bet since it's a novel by the same guy as The Martian. Not to say that it isn't an improvement, but we're still pretty far from seeing American cinema catching up to the world stage in originality, let alone to the golden Hollywood era.

At least Hail Mary was an original IP with no built-in sequel opportunity. These days, I'd be happy if more major studio, big budget releases were adapted from original IP books.

Sadly, I heard that the studio is apparently trying to figure out how to make a Hail Mary sequel (sigh).

Re: 'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

#112

Post by freejazz »

lmm wrote: post #76
arusahni wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A "Steam for Movies" service (as expressed in an ancestor comment) is basically that, though. One doesn't own their Steam games.

But you can run Steam on Linux. You don't have to worry about whether they're going to discontinue the cheap Steam Box you were relying on. And they have built up credibility from decades of not pulling the rug, in a way that Apple hasn't and probably can't.

> But you can run Steam on Linux

And how many people run linux that this is even relevant?

Re: 'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

#113

Post by freejazz »

anamax wrote: post #61
darth_avocado wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Matt Damon talked about this somewhere. The risk aversion stems from the move away from DVD sales. Historically a lot of low and mid budget movies relied on DVD sales to recoup costs even if theater releases didn’t get you as much money as you expected. With the safety net gone, studios don’t want to take the risk. They make big budget movies with massive marketing budgets that rely on known IP and established fan ba…

> Matt Damon talked about this somewhere. The risk aversion stems from the move away from DVD sales. DVDs and even video tape are relatively recent. Hollywood was a lot less risk averse before DVDs and video tape. Heck, Hollywood was less risk averse before TV became mainstream.

>DVDs and even video tape are relatively recent.

Yeah and it was a different business model before then with a lot more people going to theatres

Re: 'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

#114

Post by freejazz »

atleastoptimal wrote: post #31

All they had to do was simply hire a talented person who knows how to make compelling narrative art. This is lost on the movie industry, though Hollywood has been treading water for over a decade now, failing to examine its failures and coasting on inertia. In general, there is sooo much free money on the ground for large, hierarchical American corporations to do the following 1. Give young talented people resources…

Backrooms is Marvel for 4chaners and other very online people, let's be honest.

Re: 'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

#115

Post by Triphibian »

ip26 wrote: post #95
jtokoph wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My first thought is that it would be the very successful YouTubers that get approached by hollywood. And those people are already doing well for themselves independently and would most likely not want to move to the corporate culture without creative control.

That's the exactly the role talent scouts fill - spot the ones that show glimmers of promise before it's obvious, and offer them opportunity.

Hollywood is looking for a slightly different skill set than what YouTubers do, but what they do want is that relationship with an audience. Filmmaking chops can be taught and nurtured, but that trust that some of these creators have earned is gold to them.

Re: 'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

#116

Post by Triphibian »

ip26 wrote: post #95
jtokoph wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My first thought is that it would be the very successful YouTubers that get approached by hollywood. And those people are already doing well for themselves independently and would most likely not want to move to the corporate culture without creative control.

That's the exactly the role talent scouts fill - spot the ones that show glimmers of promise before it's obvious, and offer them opportunity.

This story at Deadline really does a good job of outlining the strategy for the film. https://deadline.com/2026/05/backrooms-kane-parsons-box-offi...

Re: 'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

#117

Post by mrandish »

spartanatreyu wrote: post #36

No spoilers below: The movie was great but it's not a stand-alone movie, it is a small piece of the full story so don't go in thinking that everything will be explained and tied up in a neat little bow. The movie takes place in Kane Pixel (the movie director's) youtube series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVAh-MgDVqvDUEq6qDXqO... It makes a lot more sense if you watch the full youtube series first.

I haven't seen the movie yet. While the entire YT series is good, the part I liked best (and am most interested in going forward) was the later episodes where some mysterious organization starts exploring the Backrooms for unknown reasons. I really dug the more sci-fi X-Files / Stranger Things vibe than straight horror but the web series stopped before that direction was ever developed. It sure felt like it could be going somewhere really interesting.

To fair, the original WTF appeal of the web series' creepy Backroom vibe was great but it did start to get a little tired for me right before Kane expanded things beyond the initial "I'm trapped all alone in this endless place." But I've never been a big fan of horror plots that revolve too much around "two minutes of suspenseful creeping" building to an inevitable jump scare. Now that the movie is doing great, I'm hoping we'll get a follow-up that further develops the later parts of web series and keeps going.

Re: 'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

#118

Post by hgoel »

petercooper wrote: post #15
ramenat2am wrote: post #12

That really shows the hunger for original stories and IC among cinephiles. Major studios were too afraid to produce something fresh instead of numberless sequels and reboots in the last decade or so.

This year seems to be turning a bit of a corner. Of the top box office movies so far this year there's Michael, Project Hail Mary, Hoppers, Wuthering Heights, GOAT.. with Obsession and Backrooms rapidly rising. Last year it was basically F1 and Minecraft (and while not sequels, both are arguably well known "franchises" outside of movies - but I guess MJ and Wuthering Heights are too ;-)).

Agreed, I've already been to the movies twice this year (PHM and Backrooms), usually it's maybe once every other year for some one-day anime movie airing. Really enjoyed both of them, just as with PHM, I think Backrooms is best viewed on a big screen.

Re: 'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

#119

Post by [deleted] »

peteforde wrote: post #2

I'm a long-term "OG" Kane Pixels fan. I took a friend to see the opening night preview and we both loved it. Anyone not familiar with Kane - who was 16 when he started making his "found footage" films in Blender - the guy is a truly brilliant mind. Listening to him talk... you can close your eyes and he speaks like someone middle aged. It's almost uncanny. Anyhow, in addition to his genuinely excellent Backrooms vide…

[deleted]

Re: 'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

#120

Post by Zetaphor »

wewewedxfgdf wrote: post #4

I saw it. I'm not a young Internet kid. And I enjoyed it - it's quite clever, I never cringed at terrible dialogue, people behaved in ways that you would expect them to in strange circumstances. Worth seeing. Amazing it was made by a 20 year old.

You should definitely check out his YouTube series if you haven't seen it and want more context
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