Horror Film Leviticus Fails to Match Success of Rivals

Leviticus, Neon's latest horror release, opened on June 19 in 1,075 theaters, earning $2.6 million and ranking eighth at the box office. To date, its worldwide gross stands at $4.3 million. This performance lags significantly behind other modest-budget indie horror films such as Obsession, which grossed $17.1 million on its opening weekend, and Backrooms, which achieved $81.4 million across 3,442 theaters.

The success of Obsession and Backrooms can be attributed to their built-in online fanbases. Director Curry Barker of Obsession, alongside star Cooper Tomlinson, commands 1.4 million subscribers on their YouTube channel. Similarly, Backrooms director Kane Parsons, with 3.41 million subscribers on Kane Pixels, developed a following through his Backrooms universe shorts.

The Backrooms concept itself originated from a 2019 4Chan thread and evolved into a vast internet phenomenon with user-generated lore and games. Parsons's viral short films brought the concept to mainstream attention, leading to a deal with A24 at age 17.

In contrast, Leviticus is director Adrian Chiarella's original debut feature. Despite a positive reception at Sundance, festival buzz has not translated to commercial success. Leviticus also faced immediate competition from Toy Story 5, which dominated the box office with a $159.6 million opening.

Both Obsession and Backrooms debuted without major blockbuster releases. Backrooms opened at No. 1, while Obsession debuted at No. 3. Leviticus, however, is expected to face further competition with the upcoming release of Supergirl. Despite these challenges, Leviticus's strong 93% Rotten Tomatoes score and 3.8 Letterboxd average offer potential for word-of-mouth growth, similar to how Obsession found success in subsequent weeks.