This is an unusually strong week for theatrical movies arriving on U.S. streaming. The biggest story is today’s HBO Max debut of Backrooms, the $10 million A24 horror phenomenon that ultimately grossed more than $400 million worldwide. Disney+ has just added billion-dollar blockbuster Toy Story 5, Paramount+ is giving the acclaimed but little-seen Tuner a second shot at an audience, and Peacock adds Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme today. Box Office Mojo
Platforms and Sources Reviewed
Today’s review covered HBO Max, Disney+, Paramount+ and Peacock, supplemented by AP, Variety, Box Office Mojo and current U.S. streaming-release coverage. AP News
Main Highlight 1: Backrooms — A24’s $400 Million Phenomenon Arrives on HBO Max Today
Today’s most important theatrical-to-streaming arrival is Backrooms.
The Kane Parsons horror film makes its U.S. HBO Max streaming debut today, September 25, after opening theatrically May 29. It will also air on HBO’s linear channel tomorrow night. Bloody Disgusting!
And calling Backrooms a theatrical success almost understates what happened.
The movie opened to $81.4 million domestically, the largest opening in A24 history, and ultimately grossed approximately $197.5 million domestically and $400.9 million worldwide. Variety Australia
Even more remarkable: A24 and Chernin Entertainment reportedly produced it for roughly $10 million. Variety Australia
Why it matters
Backrooms began with filmmaker Kane Parsons’ viral YouTube series about eerie, seemingly endless liminal spaces. Parsons was only 20 when his feature became a box-office phenomenon.
That makes this a particularly modern franchise-development story:
Internet culture → YouTube audience → theatrical blockbuster → premium streaming release.
The original online series had already accumulated more than 190 million views before the film reached HBO Max. Bloody Disgusting!
How its box office may affect OTT viewership
Unlike a theatrical disappointment hoping to be rescued by streaming, Backrooms arrives with enormous cultural awareness.
Millions saw the movie in theaters. Millions more heard about the young filmmaker, the viral source material and its record-breaking performance but never bought a ticket.
HBO Max now inherits both groups.
And the timing could hardly be better: the movie reaches streaming just as Halloween viewing begins accelerating.
OTT takeaway: Backrooms may be the clearest example this year of internet-native IP becoming mainstream entertainment—and then feeding that audience back into streaming.
Main Highlight 2: Toy Story 5 — A Billion-Dollar Blockbuster Comes to Disney+
Another enormous theatrical success reached streaming this week.
Toy Story 5 debuted on Disney+ on September 23, just over three months after its June 19 theatrical opening. AP News
The movie opened with $160 million domestically and $312 million worldwide, setting a franchise opening record. TheWrap
It subsequently crossed $1 billion worldwide, with reporting in August placing the total at approximately $1.022 billion—including $448 million domestically—making it the highest-grossing movie of 2026 at that point. People.com
Why it matters
This is exactly what Disney wants from the theatrical-to-streaming pipeline.
The studio first monetizes one of its strongest franchises through theaters. Then the movie becomes a long-term asset inside Disney+.
For a family title, that second stage may be particularly valuable.
A family may purchase four theater tickets once. On Disney+, children can watch the same movie repeatedly—while the service can immediately recommend Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3, Toy Story 4 and related Pixar programming.
How its box office may affect OTT viewership
Here, box-office success should amplify streaming demand rather than substitute for it.
Theatrical attendance created awareness on a massive scale, and Disney+ now removes the incremental cost of repeat viewing.
That combination makes Toy Story 5 a strong candidate for sustained engagement rather than simply a big opening weekend on streaming.
OTT takeaway: For family franchises, theatrical success and streaming success can be highly complementary. The cinema creates the event; streaming creates repeat viewing.
Main Highlight 3: Tuner — Paramount+ Gives a Small Theatrical Film a Much Larger Stage
The opposite experiment is underway at Paramount+.
Tuner, starring Leo Woodall and Dustin Hoffman, arrived on Paramount+ on September 21. AP News
The Daniel Roher-directed thriller follows a former piano prodigy whose extreme sensitivity to sound unexpectedly makes him an unusually talented safecracker.
Its theatrical performance was modest.
The film reportedly cost about $7 million and earned approximately $15 million globally. Tom’s Guide
But its critical reception was considerably stronger, with the same report noting a 94% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. Tom’s Guide
Why it matters
Movies like Tuner may represent one of streaming’s most useful roles.
A small character-driven thriller can struggle theatrically because it lacks the marketing scale, franchise recognition or visual spectacle that motivates audiences to leave home.
But that does not necessarily mean viewers are uninterested.
On Paramount+, the question changes from “Would you buy a ticket for this?” to “Would you watch Leo Woodall and Dustin Hoffman in an acclaimed thriller that’s already included in your subscription?”
That is a much easier proposition.
How its box office may affect OTT viewership
Its modest theatrical gross may actually leave considerable untapped demand.
Woodall brings recognition from The White Lotus and One Day, while positive reviews can help the movie stand out once recommendation algorithms begin surfacing it.
OTT takeaway: Streaming can function as a discovery engine for critically strong movies that simply could not compete with franchises at the multiplex.
Main Highlight 4: The Phoenician Scheme Arrives on Peacock Today
Peacock gets its own notable theatrical-to-streaming addition today.
Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme begins streaming on Peacock today, September 25. Comic Basics
The ensemble film stars Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton and Michael Cera, alongside Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jeffrey Wright and others.
It opened theatrically in limited release on May 30, 2025 before expanding nationally June 6.
Its box-office run was respectable but modest: approximately $19.6 million domestically and $40.6 million worldwide. Box Office Mojo
Why it matters
Wes Anderson films have something streaming platforms value enormously: a recognizable creative identity.
Viewers may not remember every plot detail, but they know what a Wes Anderson movie looks and feels like.
And its extraordinary cast creates multiple discovery paths. A subscriber may click because of Anderson, del Toro, Cera, Hanks, Johansson or Cumberbatch.
How its box office may affect OTT viewership
The relatively modest theatrical gross means most potential Peacock viewers have never seen the film.
That makes today’s streaming debut function almost like a second premiere.
It also illustrates why theatrical box office can underestimate the long-term value of distinctive filmmaker-driven movies. Their audiences may accumulate gradually rather than during a blockbuster opening weekend.
OTT takeaway: Streaming gives auteur-driven films something theatrical distribution often cannot—time to keep finding their audience.
The Bigger Story: Four Movies, Four Completely Different Streaming Jobs
This week’s arrivals illustrate why the phrase “theatrical-to-streaming window” can be misleading.
These movies are not all coming to streaming for the same reason.
Backrooms arrives as a $400 million cultural phenomenon.
Toy Story 5 arrives as a billion-dollar family blockbuster designed for repeat viewing.
Tuner arrives hoping streaming can expose a small, acclaimed movie to an audience that largely missed it in theaters.
And The Phoenician Scheme arrives as a filmmaker-driven catalog asset whose value can continue accumulating over time. Box Office Mojo
Streaming is therefore not simply the place movies go after theaters.
Increasingly, it is the place where studios discover what kind of long-term asset a theatrical movie actually became.
Short Trend Takeaway
If there is one title to watch this weekend, it is Backrooms.
A $10 million movie becoming a $400 million theatrical blockbuster is already extraordinary. But its origin as viral online storytelling makes the next stage especially interesting. Variety Australia
If the film now becomes a major HBO Max streaming hit, Backrooms will have traveled through virtually every layer of the modern entertainment ecosystem: creator video, social-media fandom, theatrical exhibition and subscription streaming.
Meanwhile, Toy Story 5, Tuner and The Phoenician Scheme remind us that there is no single formula for the theatrical-to-streaming transition.
The box office tells us who paid to see a movie. Streaming tells us how large its audience can become once the ticket price disappears.
Video Links to Watch
HBO Max is the official streaming destination for Backrooms beginning today. Watch Backrooms on HBO Max
Disney+ is the official streaming home for Toy Story 5 following its September 23 debut. Watch Toy Story 5 on Disney+
Paramount+ is now the official subscription-streaming home for Tuner. Explore Tuner on Paramount+
Peacock adds The Phoenician Scheme today as part of its September movie lineup. Watch The Phoenician Scheme on Peacock
