LOS ANGELES – 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…