Backrooms Movie Director Kane Parsons Refuses To Fall For The Biggest Trap For Young Filmmakers

A24

If there's one thing Hollywood loves more than a success story coming completely out of nowhere, it's the timeless tale of a young, up-and-coming talent flaming out spectacularly after biting off more than they can chew. Without naming any names, we've seen this happen countless times over the decades. An indie sensation or original project blows up, studios line up with blank checks in hand to capitalize on the hype, and filmmakers learn the hard way that the easiest way forward isn't always the best way forward.

Don't expect "Backrooms" director Kane Parsons to fall into a similar trap, however. After guiding the latest A24 film into a box-office hit, the 20-year-old certainly has his pick of the litter moving forward. In years past, this would inevitably result in headlines swirling around a flirtation with the next Marvel or "Star Wars" blockbuster. Thankfully, Parsons appears to have little to no interest in making the same mistake as so many others have done. In a recent appearance on Matt Belloni's "The Town" podcast, the filmmaker was asked point-blank about his interest level in adapting any "legacy IP" next. He was quick to answer in the negative — though with one key caveat:

"No, I think barring one or two things from my personal childhood — stuff from the early 2000s, one or two things, really, without naming them; stuff may already be moving a little bit – but those are the only things. Yeah, pretty much nothing. I'm not too interested in IP work. I pretty much entirely want to focus on original projects, just because I do this because it's my way of processing life, as is art."

A24

What were you doing in your late teens and early twenties? While the rest of us were skipping college lectures and getting into trouble with friends, Kane Parsons has been busy leveraging his viral YouTube web series based on the "Backrooms" copypasta into a word-of-mouth phenomenon that's taken the industry by storm. Not too shabby for someone who can't even legally drink yet in the United States. (Don't worry, he's finally about to turn 21 years old in the days ahead.) Anyone who's heard him talk has likely come away impressed by his thoughtfulness in getting his foot in Hollywood's door, and that's only further proven by his desire to focus on the kinds of stories that brought him this far in the first place.

But that's not to say that he doesn't have any dream projects to adapt on his bucket list. Sure, he reiterates that, "I typically find needing to step into someone else's view of life tends to damage the initial point for me," which would seem to shut down any talk of a full-fledged IP play in the future. But he goes on to say, "So the only ones that I'd look at are ones that have shaped my own experience of life so much that I feel like I have something to do with that conversation in the first place."

His earlier allusion to the fact that "stuff may already be moving a little bit" definitely implies that the wheels are currently in motion on ... something. Could that be the "Portal" movie he's previously spoken about adapting? Either way, we get the feeling that Parsons knows less is more. For now, "Backrooms" is currently playing in theaters.