> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.theomnicosm.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # ‘Backrooms’ romps as ‘Obsession’ rises and ‘Mandalorian and Grogu’ crashes - URL: https://www.theomnicosm.com/popculturology-box-office-report-backrooms/ - Published: 2026-06-01T11:00:28.000Z - Updated: 2026-06-01T11:00:28.000Z - Description: Two horror films dominated the weekend as Jon Favreau’s film became the first ‘Star Wars’ movie to not stay at No. 1 its second weekend. - Author: Bill Kuchman - Tags: Popculturology • The Box Office Report, Popculturology, Backrooms, Obsession, The Mandalorian and Grogu, Star Wars, Michael, The Breadwinner, Nate Bargatze Hello! Welcome to **The** **Box Office Report** for the weekend of May 29-31, 2026. ## 1\. Backrooms *Weekend gross: *$81.5M** *Total domestic gross: *$81.5M** *Last weekend: *New release** *Percent drop: *NA** Three (near?) unprecedented events converged for a wild weekend at the box office: A 20-year-old director’s A24 horror film landed at No. 1 with a whopping $81.5 million debut. **Curry Barker**’s *Obsession* saw its second straight weekend-to-weekend *increase.* And a *Star Wars* movie not only failed to hold onto the top spot in its second weekend for the first time ever, but it fell to third. Everyone is talking about *Backrooms* this week. Director **Kane Parsons** [turned his YouTube videos into a film](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/29/movies/kane-parsons-24-youngest-director-backrooms.html?ref=theomnicosm.com) that scored what’s estimated to be the fourth biggest weekend of any film in 2026\. *Backrooms*’s $81,456,295 could easily bump up when the final numbers come in on Monday, possibly nudging it past *The Mandalorian and Grogu*’s $81,670,433. Between *Backrooms* and *Obsession*, it’s been a very good run for Blumhouse Productions/Atomic Monster, the production companies launched by **Jason Blum** and **James Wan**. ![Popculturology](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f4/8b/f48be8ca-23c6-4d81-b0cf-da2fb0785911/content/images/2026/02/popculturology-wordmark.png) Welcome to Popculturology! This publication is a free newsletter, but it’s fueled by readers like you. Support independent news, reviews and more for **just $5 a month**. [Upgrade to Paid](https://www.theomnicosm.com/about/#/portal/account/plans) Includes full access to **Snackology** and **The Cold Open**. ## 2\. Obsession *Weekend gross: *$26.4M** *Total domestic gross: *$104.8M** *Last weekend: *2nd** *Percent increase: *10** Movies aren’t supposed to make more money with each passing weekend. That’s just not how this ever works. Sure, we see spikes when a studio dramatically increases the number of theaters a film is playing in, but not when those numbers are almost static. Barker’s *Obsession* continues to defy those odds. After opening at No. 3 with $17.2 million, the film surged 39 percent last weekend for a $24 million haul, and then jumped another 10 percent this weekend to add another $26.4 million. *Obsession* has now passed the $100 million mark in North America, and shows no sign of slowing down. ALSO FROM THE OMNICOSM Love what you’re reading? You might also enjoy **Snackology**, a deep-dive into the world of snacks, fast food and limited-edition treats. [Read the latest from Snackology →](https://www.theomnicosm.com/tag/snackology/) Already a subscriber? [Update your settings](https://www.theomnicosm.com/#/portal/account/plans) to add **Snackology** to your inbox. ## 3\. The Mandalorian and Grogu *Weekend gross: *$25M** *Total domestic gross: *$137.4M** *Last weekend: *1st** *Percent drop: *69** But speaking of slowing down, it appears that the bottom has quickly fallen out for *The Mandalorian and Grogu*. Dating back to the release of the prequel trilogy, every *Star Wars* movie released — including the sequel trilogy and first two standalone films — has held on to the No. 1 spot over their second weekends in theaters. Even *Solo*, the film that everyone loves to say killed *Star Wars* movies. *The Mandalorian and Grogu* not only didn’t stay on top of the box office, it tumbled down to third place. The film’s 69 percent weekend-to-weekend drop is the biggest we’ve seen during the modern era, surpassing *The Last Jedi*’s 67 percent drop and *Solo*’s 65 percent drop. Has sending *The Mandalorian and Grogu* to theaters done irreparable damage to *Star Wars*? It’s obvious that this one was never up to theatrical quality, and Disney has turned to posting random social media accounts [praising the ability to see a *Star Wars* movie in theaters](https://www.instagram.com/p/DY8EUv5ElDs/?ref=theomnicosm.com) — not the quality of the movie itself — to mask the reality that [this is a pretty empty entry into the *Star Wars* canon](https://www.theomnicosm.com/popculturology-newsletter-colbert-late-show/). ## 4\. Michael *Weekend gross: *$11.7M** *Total domestic gross: *$339.9M** *Last weekend: *3rd** *Percent drop: *43** After *Michael* debuted with $97.2 million, I theorized that the film was going to play like a concert film, scoring a massive opening weekend before quickly falling off. I was wrong. People really, really want to keep watching the **Michael Jackson** biopic. *Michael* just wrapped up its sixth weekend in theaters, and it’s yet to gross less than $10 million or fall out of the top five. Get daily pop culture updates and news from **Bill Kuchman** on social media. [ ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f4/8b/f48be8ca-23c6-4d81-b0cf-da2fb0785911/content/images/2026/02/bluesky-green.svg) Bluesky ](https://bsky.app/profile/billkuchman.bsky.social?ref=theomnicosm.com) [ ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f4/8b/f48be8ca-23c6-4d81-b0cf-da2fb0785911/content/images/2026/02/instagram-green.svg) Instagram ](https://www.instagram.com/theomnicosm/?ref=theomnicosm.com) ## 5\. The Breadwinner *Weekend gross: *$7.5M** *Total domestic gross: *$7.5M** *Last weekend: *New release** *Percent drop: *NA** I know that **Nate Bargatze**’s goal here wasn’t to make a critically acclaimed comedy or to actually say something new or unique, but — wow — does *The Breadwinner* sound bad. Pop culture writer and critic **Matt Zoller Seitz** called *The Breadwinner* “a feature film that looks and plays like a single-camera sitcom puffed up by creative ambitions that no one involved followed through on” in [his brutally honest review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-breadwinner-nate-bergatze-movie-review-2026?ref=theomnicosm.com) of the film. *Box office numbers via The Numbers and Box Office Mojo based on Sunday estimates.* ![Popculturology](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f4/8b/f48be8ca-23c6-4d81-b0cf-da2fb0785911/content/images/2026/02/popculturology-wordmark.png) Popculturology is a publication of **The Omnicosm**. Issue No. 457 --- **Popculturology** is written and produced by **Bill Kuchman**. Copyediting by **Tim Kuchman**. Love what **Popculturology** is doing? You can help keep the newsletter going by [becoming a paid supporter](https://www.theomnicosm.com/about/#/portal/account/plans). If this edition of **Popculturology** brought you joy, [consider sending a tip](https://www.theomnicosm.com/#/portal/support). Get the full **The Omnicosm** experience. Add **Snackology** and **The Cold Open** to your subscription via [your account settings](https://www.theomnicosm.com/account/). [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f4/8b/f48be8ca-23c6-4d81-b0cf-da2fb0785911/content/images/2026/02/bluesky-green.svg) Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/billkuchman.bsky.social?ref=theomnicosm.com) [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f4/8b/f48be8ca-23c6-4d81-b0cf-da2fb0785911/content/images/2026/02/instagram-green.svg) Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/popculturology/?ref=theomnicosm.com) [![The Omnicosm](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f4/8b/f48be8ca-23c6-4d81-b0cf-da2fb0785911/content/images/2026/03/the-omnicosm-wordmark-new-1.png)](https://www.theomnicosm.com/) Want to remove The Box Office Report from your Popculturology subscription? [Click here to notify us via email](mailto:popculturology@gmail.com?subject=The%20Box%20Office%20Report%20unsubscribe&body=Please%20remove%20The%20Box%20Office%20Report%20from%20my%20Popculturology%20subscription.).