Willa Rowe is a contributing writer at Polygon, covering games and entertainment. She is a New York-based journalist and critic whose work has been featured in Kotaku, Digital Trends, the A.V. Club, GamesRadar+, and more. She also co-hosts the Girl Mode podcast.
Kane Parsons says TV is the ‘dream scenario’ for the franchise’s future
In a banner year for horror cinema, one of the most surprising hits has been Backrooms. The feature-film directorial debut from Kane Parsons expertly adapted his viral YouTube series to the big screen to massive critical and box office success. But after YouTube and film, but after YouTube and film, what’s left for Parsons and Backrooms? The director seems to have a pretty good answer, revealing his “dream scenario” for the story’s next chapter.
Talking to Deadline, Parsons revealed that he has always had a plan for the overarching story of Backrooms beyond the film. “There’s been a very set arc to the whole thing from the beginning,” said the director. He added that he feels “absurdly excited at the idea of actually being able to follow through on all of it.” As for what form that will take, Parsons stated that “the dream scenario would be a limited series for Backrooms to get to the main ending.”
Whether the series is actively in development or not is another thing, and Parsons avoided revealing any concrete details about his current projects: “There’s a few things that I would love to talk about when I can soon.” It’s no question that Backrooms will return in some form after the film broke box office records. It garnered the best opening weekend for an A24 movie ever, in addition to making Parsons the youngest director to have a number one movie at the box office.
Whill there be a Backrooms 2?
Parsons may be teasing TV is next, but another film could also be in the works. Earlier this September, Dread Central reported that a sequel to Backrooms is in the works with Parsons set to return as director.
There is the possibility that both projects are in the works. Parsons previously told Variety that he was not done with the series and planned for it to go “outside the confines of this film.” Alternatively, the limited series could be a project set to happen in the more distant future. Parsons does say that it would be the ending of a story arc he has planned, and there is currently no rush to put an end to the Backrooms hype.