Now, in an interview with Polygon, Parsons discusses what's next for his film, Backrooms. In the interview, the 20-year-old filmmaker, and A24's youngest director to date, says he has many more plans and a lot more to do. He elaborated that currently, he went "as far as [he] could with the YouTube series," adding that, "[he] thought it'd be a much slower road to get to where things are now."
“[Sequels are] more than an option — it's been the intention since 2022,” Parsons says. “I went as far as I could with the YouTube series. [Making a feature film] became an option — I thought it'd be a much slower road to get to where things are now. This film is the first part in what I would desire to be several narrative steps, in terms of approaching what I consider to be the true heart of the idea. I just don't think you could get to it in the time you have for a single movie.”
Parsons, continuing on the success of Backrooms, could take different directions. As Parsons said, "so many things can fluctuate." However, he noted that he would like to see the first movie branch out into enough films that it could move into other genres. He describes a future series as his "dream scenario." However, even if this scenario happens, Parsons still wants to "engage with YouTube, to an extent."
It's a rather new concept, although filmmakers such as David F. Sandberg (Lights Out), Danny and Michael Philippou (Talk to Me), Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once), and even further back, Bo Burnham, all got their original start on YouTube before branching out into larger feature films. How studios and producers navigate their futures varies drastically for each artist.
Parsons admits that he wouldn't know exactly how A24 would feel about his continued YouTube films. However, he said, "I believe it mostly just comes down to A24 having awareness of [what I make], and probably pre-awareness to view these things. But they've been very creatively hands-off, and I think they're trusting the creative judgment calls I'm making, in terms of how I'm delivering media to the audience. So if something like that feels productive and compelling, I don't think they have an incentive to try to block it in any way.”
This continued dialogue and Parsons's desire to continue making films, confirm that there will be a lot more to come. There may be some fluctuations in the genre, as "the series... is not determined by a genre label," and future stories could lean into an "interpersonal sort of drama built on top of a supernatural techno-thriller." This willingness and desire to change and adapt prevent a repetitive story and allow the film to dive deeper into what it wants to explore.
If future films do emerge, the expansive universe of the Backrooms (referred to as "The Complex") could explore a lot more of the original stories and conspiracies. Sparked by an eerie picture uploaded to 4chan in May 2019, the ghostly Backrooms were what sparked Parsons to create the rich, complex Async Research Institute lore, which future films are poised to explore.
A24's Backrooms is now playing exclusively in theaters.
Release Date
May 27, 2026
Runtime
110 minutes
Director
Kane Parsons
Writers
Will Soodik
Producers
Chris Ferguson, Dan Cohen, Dan Levine, James Wan, Jenno Topping, Kori Adelson, Michael Clear, Osgood Perkins, Peter Chernin, Roberto Patino, Shawn Levy
English (US) ·