Why 2026's Biggest Box Office Win Is Technically Its 11th Highest Earner

Published Sep 19, 2026, 8:55 AM EDT

Zoë Miskelly is an editor and second in command for Screen Rant's Movies team, having covered the entertainment industry for almost 10 years now. Zoë's love of superheroes and all things Marvel & DC started out in childhood, and has blossomed into a career getting to talk about some of the biggest and best movies and shows of all time, having previously focused on comics while working at WhatCulture.

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When looking at the financial landscape of 2026 and its movie offerings, the year's 11th biggest box office success story is technically this time period's biggest hit in terms of profit, despite having a far lower box office than 2026's billion dollar-plus releases. While movies should never be measured by fiscal earnings alone, the world of cinema is one that is a major industry for a reason, having made many millions every year throughout the course of its history.

That said, over time, the demands of movies have also expanded, with blockbusters often also requiring budgets well into the millions in order to fund things like hiring major actors, paying for sets, and using CGI to make effects or creatures seem realistic even when they're truly larger-than-life.

This has made the matter of what movies are the biggest financial success stories naturally more complex, since plenty of the highest-grossing films of all time have made less of an overall profit in their box office because of the immense costs needed to bring their story fully to life. 2026 has a fascinating example of how profit is often quite different to sheer box office numbers for movies, as the year has a staggering success story that is often overlooked in lieu of the year's five movies that made over $1 billion.

Backrooms Earning 39 Times Its Budget Makes It A Staggering Success Story Even Though It's Not 2026's Biggest Movie Hit

Credit: A24/Courtesy Everett Collection

Though 2026's box office chart is currently topped by Spider-Man: Brand New Day - which made an impressive $2.4 billion worldwide at the box office, cementing it as one of the highest-grossing movies of all time - the year contains another movie that is technically an even bigger success story when looked at in terms of profit.

Where Spider-Man: Brand New Day's action-packed and larger-than-life story required a budget of reportedly around $225 million (via Deadline), Backrooms managed to net $394 million while its own reported budget was that of $10 million (as per Deadline), meaning it made 39 times its budget, and was not that far away from earning 40 times its own budget as well.

Given this would have required a box office of around $93 billion from Spider-Man: Brand New Day to reach the same budget to box office ratio, Backrooms' results in this regard stands out in a major way, despite the fact the film is currently the year's 11th highest-grossing movie rather than a film in one of 2026's top 10 box office roster.

Backrooms' Success Further Proves Movies Don't Need Big Budgets To Be Huge Success Stories

The more humble budget of Backrooms doesn't detract from its visuals or the fascinating setting of its story being mostly within a liminal world that toys with the fabric of reality in surreal and striking ways.

A good portion of this is down to the talents of director Kane Parsons - whose prior work on creating Backrooms installments on YouTube gave him the perfect experience to make the film - but it's also evidently reflective of how engaging stories and scenes can be crafted without requiring expansive investments that then make it more imperative to hit higher box office milestones just to break even or make a profit.

In an era where box office results cannot often be strictly guaranteed, even in genres or series that have had major prior success and still have sustained audience interest, films like Backrooms are even more crucial to note, since they show how platforming creativity can negate the need for major budgets, and indeed provide a perfect example of how toned-back budgets can lead to more interesting results than many films with larger budgets have managed in the past.

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Backrooms is a film adaptation inspired by the viral found-footage shorts created Kane Parsons. The film explores the eerie and surreal labyrinth known as the Backrooms, capturing unsettling experiences within its endless hallways and rooms.