“Backrooms”' Kane Parsons Just Turned 21. His Horror Movie Has Made Over $250 Million Worldwide
“Backrooms”' Kane Parsons Just Turned 21. His Horror Movie Has Made Over $250 Million Worldwide
Madison E. GoldbergFri, June 19, 2026 at 12:17 AM UTC
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Kane Parsons attends the BACKROOMS London Special Screening at Vue West End on May 19, 2026 in London, England.Credit: Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/Getty -
Backrooms director Kane Parsons celebrated turning 21 on Thursday, June 18
The director was the youngest-ever to work with indie movie studio A24
Backrooms, Parsons' directorial debut, has already made over $250 million globally
A24's youngest-ever director, Backrooms director Kane Parsons, has turned 21.
The indie film studio shared a portrait of Parsons on Instagram in honor of his birthday on Thursday, June 18, captioning it simply "Kane Parsons is 21 years old."
Parsons directed the horror mega-hit Backrooms, which has raked in over $250 million globally since its May 29 release. The film is a culmination of Parsons' expertise in DIY filmmaking on YouTube. From January 2022 to February 2025, he found viral success by creating The Backrooms (Found Footage). The series of videos was inspired by a meme created on 4chan in 2019, which has seen internet users uploading images of eerie, liminal spaces.
A liminal space refers to a space of transition, whether physical or metaphorical.
"I've been a very online person most of my life," Parsons recently told IndieWire of the original project's origins, noting he "was born the same year as YouTube."
Finn Bennett, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kane Parsons, Renate Reinsve, Lukita Maxwell and Mark Duplass attend the LA special screening of "Backrooms" on May 7Credit: LISA O'CONNOR / AFP via Getty
"I started getting into VFX-driven channels that would help me realize it's accessible and something that I could go do," he said. "I started with the resources I had, like a laptop, I would pirate VFX software and stuff when I was 11 or so and started learning After Effects."
Parsons' videos, filmed based on the internet's creepypasta tradition, examine a fictional 1990s research institute discovering the Backrooms and attempting to document the vacant spaces, which mirror a yellow, distorted version of reality. The series used found footage in the style of 1999's The Blair Witch Project, giving viewers a direct perspective as the mystery unfolds.
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After deciding to pause his higher education plans in favor of accepting the deal to work with A24 on the unique horror film, Parsons was paired with writer Will Soodik. The film stars Academy Award nominees Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve, alongside Avan Jogia, Mark Duplass and more.
Backrooms made a splash with a massive $118 million opening weekend on May 29.
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Parsons has already teased a potential sequel.
"When I started this project in 2022, narratively, I knew what it was going to be," Parsons told Rotten Tomatoes in a recent interview. "But not knowing exactly like this would happen with it."
The success has surpassed even his own expectations. "I had hopes, but this has been insane. This has been f---ing insane."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
