Backrooms has been the breakthrough hit of the year. With a budget of $10 million, a movie that began life in YouTube shorts animated in Blender as a hobby has already earned over $360 million. It's the studio A24's most successful movie yet by far, but things have taken a controversial turn.
The Skibidi Toilet legal controversy highlighted the tensions that can emerge when corporate studios become involved with viral social media hits. That animation at least has a single artist who's generally recognised as its originator. Backrooms is a piece of internet folklore that many people helped develop. Some creators fear A24 is now trying to erase that history.
