“The Backrooms,” the viral YouTube horror series that has amassed nearly 200 million views since debuting in 2022, is officially becoming a feature film. A24 has greenlit a movie based on the property directed by 19-year-old series creator Kane Parsons, who will be the youngest director in A24 history when the film enters production this summer.
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve will star in “The Backrooms,” which is a co-production between A24 and Chernin Entertainment. James Wan and Shawn Levy will executive produce through their Atomic Monster and 21 Laps banners, respectively. Roberto Patino is also a producer. Chernin Entertainment, part of The North Road Company, will co-finance alongside A24.
While plot details for the film have been kept under wraps, the YouTube series used the found-footage format to gradually build a horror universe about liminal spaces that exist in our world without fully conforming to our reality. The slow builds and homemade special effects helped the eerie videos build a loyal following.
A24’s feature take on “The Backrooms,” which was first announced in 2023, has been cited as one of Hollywood’s most significant investments in intellectual property that emerged from the internet. In Vol. 005 of the In Development newsletter from IndieWire’s Future of Filmmaking, editor-in-chief Dana Harris-Bridson argued that Parsons represents the new archetype for indie film success in the 2020s.
“This sounds like a 21st-century riff on the Sundance wunderkind, but A24 didn’t buy a short from a promising high school filmmaker. It bought an ecosystem,” she wrote of his success. “Scalable IP, with a built-in fanbase. Proof of engagement. Potential for merch, spin-offs, and platform-native storytelling. It’s a lot less romantic than the ‘90s story, in which credit-card debt is burned away by a life-altering festival premiere that sends buyers huddling in the lobby to craft eight-figure offers. However, we can’t believe in that folktale if we also believe in the internet. Thirty years ago, a rapturous reception was the only tool distributors had to project future results. In reality, the digital revolution in filmmaking happened at the same time as all the other digital revolutions. Today, no one relies on analog instinct for pretty much the same reason that you don’t have a landline.”
No release date for “The Backrooms” has been announced.
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