With the “Backrooms” movie having grossed $360 million worldwide from a $10 million budget, it comes as little surprise that now 21-year-old filmmaker Kane Parsons is a hot commodity.
Now, Puck’s Matt Belloni reports that “Backrooms” distributor A24 has no plans to let him go, with Parsons currently in negotiations with the company for a three-year first-look deal.
Currently in discussions is that one of the first projects under that deal will be a “Backrooms” sequel that Parsons reportedly already has an idea for. An additional original film would also be part of the deal.
Other studios, including Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, and Sony, are campaigning to sign with them instead, but A24 is said to be the frontrunner.
Should he sign, the filmmaker is expected to receive a $65 million payday for this three-year deal along with a bonus if he makes two movies within the three-year term of the agreement.
One complication happened in the past day or so as Reddit (via PC Gamer) is posting stories of ‘A24 Films LLC’ apparently requesting copyright takedowns of Backrooms-inspired artwork, artwork inspired by the original Backrooms image that appeared online in the late 2010s – well before the film. Parsons has reportedly said he’s looking into the matter.
Parsons created the original viral YouTube shorts, which were a sensation and led to the film deal. The success of it and Curry Barker’s “Obsession” have led to Hollywood scouring YouTube for other potential works and creators to make the jump to feature films.
