Renate Reinsve in “Backrooms.”
A24
Director Kane Parsons’ horror thriller Backrooms, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve, is new on digital streaming this week after the film’s studio, A24, extended the film’s theatrical window.
Written by Will Soodik and Parsons, Backrooms opened in theaters domestically on May 29. Ejiofor stars as Clark, a used furniture store owner embittered by a shattered marriage and a career in architecture that never materialized.
When Clark discovers an interdimensional door in the store’s basement that leads to liminal spaces with pale yellow walls (known in Parsons’ YouTube series as “The Backrooms”), which house strange objects and haunting entities.
When Clark becomes trapped in the interdimensional maze, he manages to communicate with his therapist, Mary (Renate Reinsve of Sentimental Value), to come and find him. When Mary enters the haunting, surreal spaces looking for Clark, terror awaits her.
Rated R, Backrooms opened at No. 1 at the domestic box office, earning $81.4 million from 3,442 theaters the weekend of May 29-31. To date, Backrooms has earned $192.7 million domestically and $173.7 million internationally for a running worldwide box office of $366.4 million.
Backrooms’ sixth week in theaters featured an extended cut of the film (called Backrooms: Everything Must Go Edition), which added 15 minutes of post-credits footage to the original version that premiered in theaters in late May.
Because of Backrooms’ financial success, A24 switched up its normal streaming strategy and extended the theatrical window of the film from its usual stretch of five weekends in theaters to seven weekends (or 45 days) before releasing the film on digital streaming on premium video on demand.
‘Backrooms’ Arrives On Digital Streaming On Tuesday
Backrooms will be released on PVOD on Tuesday, July 14, a new listing on Prime Video confirms. In addition to Prime Video, Backrooms will be available to purchase on PVOD for $24.99 on such digital platforms as Apple TV, Fandango at Home and YouTube Movies & TV.
Since digital rentals are typically $5 less than purchase prices, Backrooms will be available as a 48-hour rental on PVOD for $19.99.
While Prime Video doesn’t list Backrooms’ runtime, the order pages for it on Apple TV and Fandango at Home note the film is 1 hour and 50 minutes, which is the length of the original Backrooms’ theatrical release. The Backrooms: Everything Must Go Edition, on the other hand, runs 2 hours and 5 minutes.
There is no word so far as to whether Backrooms: Everything Must Go Edition will be released on either streaming or physical media (4K Ultra HD and DVD).
Also starring Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett and Lukita Maxwell, Backrooms is playing in theaters and will arrive on PVOD on Tuesday.