Kane Parsons, the 17-year-old creator of the YouTube series ‘The Backrooms’, has been chosen by A24 and James Wan to direct a feature film adaptation of their series. The film is being written by ‘DMZ’ creator Roberto Patino, who is also listed as an executive producer on the project. The production will take place during Parson’s summer vacation, after the end of the course.
More than 100 million views on youtube
‘The Backrooms’ became a viral phenomenon in 2022 when a YouTube user named Kane Pixels (an alias of Parsons), uploaded a nine-minute video of people exploring spooky empty rooms. The video tapped into the Internet’s fascination with “liminal spaces,” places that are adjacent to our reality without being part of it. The initial video received an overwhelmingly positive response, and has been viewed more than 44 million times on YouTube.
Parsons followed up with 15 other videos that have been uploaded to his YouTube channel over the past year, gradually expanding the ‘Backrooms’ mythology with a more linear narrative story to accompany the initial found-footage videos. The series has more than 100 million views in total and has a cult following who speculate on the lore of the franchise. The film follows the tradition of adapting viral internet scare stories from ‘Slender Man’ and other creepypastas like the ‘Channel Zero’ series.
No plot details or release date have been announced. Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen and Dan Levine are producing for 21 Laps Entertainment together with James Wan, Michael Clear, Judson Scott, and Alayna Glasthal for Atomic Monster, while A24 is expected to serve as distributor. Wan has already produced a viral podcast series also about liminal spaces and aspects of science fiction and cosmic horror like the Netflix-battered ‘File 81’.