A24 has wrapped production on its biggest swing yet: the $200 million adaptation of the video game Elden Ring, directed by Alex Garland and starring Kit Connor. But the more urgent number is the one the studio just posted: $500 million at the domestic box office for the first time.
The milestone was built on small bets
This is A24’s most profitable year ever. Backrooms, a Gen Z horror breakout, became the studio’s highest-grossing film with $400 million worldwide against a $10 million budget. Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s Elizabeth Holmes documentary You Can See Everything added $64 million to date, while The Drama, with Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, reached $134 million globally.
Over the summer, A24 beat Warner Bros. and Paramount in market share — a rare moment when an indie outgrossed major studios in the busiest moviegoing season.
Scale is changing the arithmetic
The hits papered over underperformers:
- How to Make a Killing: $21 million against a $15 million budget
- The Death of Robin Hood: $9.8 million against a $20 million budget
- Misty Green: $160,000 against a $5 million budget
A24 also sells most overseas rights, so it captures less upside from big international runs like Backrooms‘ $200 million-plus foreign gross while offsetting losses on misses.
The sale question gets louder
The studio was last valued at $3.5 billion in a 2024 Thrive Capital fundraise, and its TV arm has followed Euphoria with Crystal Lake, Neighbors and Margot’s Got Money Troubles. With momentum strong, M&A chatter is back. “If they’re ever going to monetize, this is the time to do it,” one mogul told Variety.
But the brand is both the draw and the risk. A24’s founders have long protected its creative control, and rivals warn that acquisition often erodes exactly the thing a buyer pays for. A top executive pointed to Disney’s handling of FX and 20th Century Fox.
Bigger budgets cannot stay polarising
A24’s edge came from low-cost films that could afford divisive CinemaScores: Hereditary earned a D+, Uncut Gems a C+ and Backrooms a B-. Those films cost under $20 million.
That math does not hold for Elden Ring or next year’s $35 million slasher Slayground. Chapman University’s Travis Knox put it plainly: “At $100 million-plus budgets, you can’t ignore Oklahoma and Indiana.”
The year proves A24 can make money. The question is whether it can keep its audience while making movies for everyone.
Source: Variety
