The sci-fi horror movie “Backrooms” opened with $81.4 million in North American theaters this weekend, setting a record for A24, the 14-year-old studio behind such critical favorites as “Marty Supreme” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
It’s an astonishing total for an independent film with a modest budget, directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons. Based on a web series created by Parsons, “Backrooms” stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve as a furniture store owner and his therapist who discover a dimension of liminal spaces accessed through the store’s basement.
Another modestly budgeted independent film, “Obsession,” came in second with $26.4 million in its third weekend in theaters, Comscore reported.
“Star Wars: Mandalorian & Grogu” grossed $25 million Friday through Sunday in its second weekend, a sharp drop-off from its $100 million opening over the four-day Memorial Day weekend.
“Michael” was fourth with $11.7 million in its sixth week, and has now grossed nearly $340 million domestically.
“The Breadwinner,” a family comedy starring standup Nate Bargatze, opened in fifth place with $7.5 million.
Rounding out the top 10 releases were “The Devil Wears Prada 2” ($5.9 million), “Pressure” ($5.7 million), “The Sheep Detectives” ($4.6 million), “Passenger” ($2.6 million) and “Mortal Kombat II” ($2 million).
“Audiences have spoken” said Mandalorian fans when the rotten tomatoes score was in the upper 90s. Well, “audiences have spoken” on this one too. The movie is falling over 60% in week 2. The general public hate it.