Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve will star in Kane Parsons’ “The Backrooms” from A24, Atomic Monster, Chernin Entertainment and 21 Laps Entertainment, the companies announced Wednesday.
The science fiction horror film is based on 19-year-old Parsons’ own YouTube series of the same name, which he created and directed as a found-footage horror project. The movie adaptation’s plot is being kept under wraps, but Parsons marks the youngest director in A24 history.
Chernin Entertainment, part of The North Road Company, will co-finance alongside A24. Production kicks off this summer.
Parsons is a teen director and VFX artist. His viral found footage YouTube series “The Backrooms” has amassed over 190 million views.
“The Backrooms” traces its origins back to a 4chan creepypasta in 2019 and involves an alternate reality that consists of nothing but an endless maze of abandoned office space, with stark fluorescent lighting and beige-painted corridors that either lead to nowhere or hide disturbing creatures that wander through.
In January 2022, Parsons released a short film based on the meme, presented as a VHS tape from the 1990s filmed by someone who managed to find their way into the Backrooms and is now forced to flee from the creatures inside. The video, which has over 190 million views, sparked a series on Parsons’ YouTube channel Kane Pixels, building a backstory around a shadowy organization that opened a dimensional portal into the Backrooms.
Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen and Dan Levine are producing for 21 Laps Entertainment and Chris Ferguson for Oddfellows Pictures. James Wan and Michael Clear are producing for Wan’s Atomic Monster, with Judson Scott executive producing and Alayna Glasthal overseeing for the company. Chris White brought the project to Atomic Monster and will be executive producing.
Parsons is repped by 3 Arts Entertainment, Ziffren Brittenham and The Initiative Group.
