Kane Parsons set to return for A24’s ‘Backrooms 2’
The Backrooms may not stay closed for long after the first movie’s box-office run. A24 has yet to announce a sequel, and details about the franchise’s future remain limited; however, that now appears close to changing. Dread Central reported that Kane Parsons has signed on to direct 'Backrooms 2' with an official announcement said to be “imminent.”
The outlet also reported that the sequel will be Parsons’ next movie. That detail answers a question surrounding his next step, as the filmmaker is developing a separate original project with ‘Longlegs’ director Osgood Perkins, who produced ‘Backrooms’ and mentored Parsons during his first feature. No production schedule, plot details, or returning cast members have been confirmed. Until A24 makes an announcement, however, both the sequel and Parsons’ involvement remain unconfirmed.
Parsons has been associated with this version of the mythology since he uploaded ‘The Backrooms (Found Footage)’ to YouTube in 2022, when he was 16. The nine-minute video has since drawn roughly 80 million views and grown into a series of interconnected analog-horror shorts. That work eventually led to A24’s feature film starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett and Lukita Maxwell. ‘Backrooms’ reportedly earned $394 million worldwide against a $10 million production budget, making it A24’s highest-grossing movie.
The filmmaker had also indicated before the movie’s release that his story would extend beyond one installment. Speaking to Variety, Parsons said ‘Backrooms’ had “always been planned to be more of a series that goes outside the confines of this film.” He also revealed that he was contractually committed to making more ‘Backrooms’ projects and had “very specific things” already in development. Those comments made another chapter possible, but they stopped short of confirming what form it would take or when it might move forward.
The first movie left several parts of Parsons’ version of the 'Backrooms' story open for further exploration. It brought Async, the organization studying the Backrooms, into the feature narrative and left unresolved questions involving Dr. Mary Kline and Pirate Clark. Parsons’ online shorts have already established a wider interconnected story beyond the events covered in the film. If the new report is confirmed, ‘Backrooms 2’ will keep that story with the filmmaker who began shaping it as a teenager.
