Here’s the single 4chan image that propelled Backrooms to $118 million and rising.

      Backrooms has become a massive success — a horror phenomenon that transitioned from a YouTube series to a remarkable debut by 20-year-old director Kane Parsons, who recently had a $118 million opening weekend.

      This level of box office performance is typically seen with Marvel blockbusters, not a film produced on a modest $10 million budget by a debut feature director. Parsons achieved the largest opening weekend in A24's history, the studio known for films like Moonlight, Hereditary, and others.

      The most notable aspect of Backrooms is its demonstration of an entirely new model for the struggling studio system, provided it can capture the resourcefulness of A24.

      Instead of relying on major studio intellectual properties, Backrooms grew out of Parsons’ YouTube series, which gathered a dedicated audience with a low budget, fostering curiosity and a sense of ownership within its fan community. They fueled the excitement for the film, aiding its crossover into mainstream success.

      Additionally, the film capitalized on striking visuals — especially the eerie yellow rooms that define its aesthetic. The production design shines in Backrooms, just as much as the notable cast members Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, and Mark Duplass. Recognition is due to production designer Danny Vermette and art director Alan Derksen for effectively bringing Parsons' vision to life on screen.

      The 4Chan Creepypasta That Inspired Kane Parsons’ Backrooms

      However, the vision originated with 4chan — the anonymous imageboard where users share images that frequently become memes. Backrooms is a prime example of this phenomenon.

      In 2019, the /x/ forum on the board posted a disturbing photo of an empty hallway bathed in a sickly yellow hue. An anonymous user referred to it as “the Backrooms, where the air is filled with the odor of old, damp carpet, the insanity of uniform yellow, the constant hum of fluorescent lights at their peak, and around six hundred million square miles of randomly segmented vacant rooms to be trapped in.”

      This became a quintessential example of "creepypasta" — the user-generated horror that transforms into an urban legend as it spreads across the internet.

      Parsons expanded on this idea, launching his YouTube series The Backrooms in 2022. Presenting his narratives as found footage, he released a variety of short, glitchy segments reminiscent of VHS tapes, with titles such as “Backrooms — First Contact,” “Backrooms — Motion Detected,” and “Backrooms — Autopsy Report.”

      He achieved this by using the initial image to construct expansive worlds through the free 3D software Blender. In an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival, he revealed that he began using Blender at age 14, motivated by a desire to replicate the visuals of video games like Half-Life, a prominent first-person shooter celebrated for its exploration and puzzles. His foray into Blender was partially inspired by the anticipation of a 2020 release for a Half-Life sequel featuring the character Alyx Vance.

      “I got into Blender, I suppose, not directly for film production,” he clarified. “I think it balances between film production, image generation, game design, and various forms of art direction. … I was creating art in anticipation of Half-Life: Alyx’s release and wanted to explore how I could extract assets from that game to create small scenes.”

      He was also influenced by YouTube tutorials from VFX expert and filmmaker Ian Hubert, known for his engaging and user-friendly “lazy tutorials.”

      “For those who may not be aware, his tutorial style was very successful on YouTube, featuring quick, engaging content where he rapidly explained how to create something, making it seem accessible and enjoyable due to his fun personality,” Parsons noted.

      Kane mentioned in the interview that discovering such tutorials is part of “growing up on YouTube.” Now that Backrooms has amassed $118 million globally — with $81.5 million from domestic audiences — it's clear that Hollywood will be on the lookout for the next visionary nurtured on YouTube.

      Main image: Kane Parsons, left, and Chiwetel Ejiofor on the set of Backrooms. A24