A24 Is Re-Releasing "Backrooms" With 15 Minutes of New Footage From Kane Parsons
A24 is re-releasing "Backrooms" with 15 minutes of new footage from director Kane Parsons for the July 4th weekend. Here's what's in the re-release, and why the timing is notable.
"Backrooms" isn't done making money for A24 — or surprising people. The studio is re-releasing its breakout horror hit with 15 minutes of bonus footage for the July 4th holiday weekend, rebranded on AMC's listings as the "Backrooms: Everything Must Go Edition."
The new cut runs 2 hours and 6 minutes and includes a "theatrically exclusive post-credit" scene with additional footage from director Kane Parsons, hitting theaters July 3. A24 hadn't responded to requests for comment on further details at the time of Variety's report.
Why this matters beyond just one re-release
"Backrooms" was produced for just $10 million and has grossed more than $330 million worldwide, making it the most profitable film in A24's history. Re-releasing a hit with bonus footage is a familiar playbook for squeezing extra box office life out of a film that's already a hit — but it's also notable timing given everything else swirling around A24 and AI right now.
We've covered both the studio's new AI research partnership with Google's DeepMind and the backlash that followed, including Parsons' own well-documented skepticism of generative AI. A theatrical re-release built around more footage from the director himself is a reminder that, AI conversation aside, what's actually driving A24's biggest win this year is Parsons' own filmmaking — footage he shot, not anything generated.
The bigger picture for low-budget horror right now
"Backrooms" isn't the only low-budget horror hit this summer — Focus's "Obsession," directed by 26-year-old Curry Barker, has grossed more than $370 million globally on a $750,000 budget. Both Parsons and Barker built their followings on YouTube before making the jump to theatrical filmmaking, which is its own genuinely interesting story about where new directing talent is actually coming from right now.
The re-release lands in the middle of a crowded holiday weekend, competing directly against Disney and Pixar's "Toy Story 5" and Universal/Illumination's "Minions & Monsters" spinoff — a notable bet that "Backrooms" still has enough built-in audience interest to compete against major studio releases for the same weekend.
