Backrooms Director Teases Next Dream Projects — Is Portal One of Them?

Parsons' comments in a recent interview have sparked more speculation

Since the buzzy horror film Backrooms propelled Kane Parsons to instant fame, many are eager to know what the young director is working on next. Beyond a confirmed Backrooms sequel, many are convinced he will bring another world of corporate drudgery to the screen: it seems quite possible he'll helm a Portal movie. The young director has made it very clear that he’s a fan of Valve, previously citing the Portal games as a major inspiration for Backrooms and its sterile aesthetic.

He said in a May interview with The New York Times that working on a Portal film would be his “dream.” Given how popular Parsons is right now, this situation has unsurprisingly led to speculation that he may be gearing up to make a Portal film. Official confirmation seems distant, but a recent interview has made it tempting to connect certain dots.

In a clip posted yesterday by podcaster Kyle Buchanan, Parsons says that he is currently working on “three dream projects.” He jokes that if he specifies further, “they’ll get me with their space lasers.” The director clarifies that these dream projects are still early on, and that he’s still “in an information phase.” The cherry on top: he’s wearing a Valve hoodie during the interview.

What suggests Parsons may be working on a Portal film?

While this tidbit may seem circumstantial on its own, the idea that Parsons is working on a Portal movie feels more plausible in the broader context. According to his own Instagram stories, the director has visited Valve at least twice this year: once in June and again this September. Parsons has been teasing some sort of collaboration with the Portal developer, and posted a picture of a valve in the orientation of the company’s logo on Instagram.

While it seems very possible that Parsons is in talks with Valve about some sort of project, there is a major caveat. In the previously mentioned interview with The New York Times, he also said that he doesn’t want to move on from Backrooms’ universe until it “reaches its conclusion.” Parsons added, “I don’t plan on dying in the next five years, so I don’t see a problem with taking a bit of time on it.” The director's Backrooms sequel for A24 has no release window.

Additionally, there’s also J.J. Abrams’ potentially abandoned Portal movie. As of 2021, Abrams said he was still actively developing the movie for Warner Bros. Considering there's been no mention of the movie since then, it's possible it is dead, but existing contracts could still hold back a potential collaboration between Valve and Parsons.

Still, coming off the fiscal and critical success of Zach Cregger’s excellent spin on Resident Evil, it seems like a particularly good time to get an auteur-driven video game adaptation off the ground. It may be a while, but it seems quite possible a Parsons-helmed Portal movie is in the cards.