At just 21 years old, Kane Parsons has Hollywood’s biggest studios chasing him, and A24 is prepared to make the richest deal in its history to keep the filmmaker behind “Backrooms” in the fold.
Puck reports that A24 has proposed a three-year first-look agreement with performance bonuses tied to Parsons making two films, including a contemplated “Backrooms” sequel. One of the outlet’s sources estimated Parsons’ likely payday at around $65 million, based on what he wants to make, although the amount is still being negotiated. A24 and Parsons’ representatives declined to comment.
“Backrooms,” based on the 4chan meme and Parsons’ YouTube shorts, was made for just $10 million and has earned a staggering $364 million worldwide. It is now A24’s biggest hit, which explains why the studio is pursuing Parsons more aggressively than any filmmaker in its history.
The problem for A24 is that Parsons has plenty of options, including one that appears particularly attractive. Warner Bros. cinephile-friendly film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy recently flew from Burbank to the Bay Area to pitch him on a major overall deal encompassing movies and television. Warner Bros. Business Affairs is now apparently preparing an official offer, according to the report.
Parsons also met over Zoom with HBO leaders Casey Bloys and Francesca Orsi. He previously told Puck that he watches more television than movies and is said to be a major HBO fan, giving Warner Bros. a powerful advantage in the negotiations.
The studio has already signed Chris Ferguson, who produced “Backrooms” and coordinated its Vancouver production, to a first-look deal. Parsons supplied a statement for the announcement that sounded encouraging for Warner Bros.
“I am very excited to continue collaborating with this lot,” Parsons said.
A24 is trying to include television in its own first-look agreement, but Parsons’ team may prefer to hold those rights back and pursue a separate TV deal elsewhere. That could leave him making movies for A24 while developing television with Warner Bros. and HBO, although negotiations remain active and no arrangement has been finalized.
NBCUniversal is chasing Parsons, too, according to Puck’s piece. Entertainment chair Donna Langley flew the filmmaker to Los Angeles for a meeting earlier this month, while Sony Pictures is arranging its own meeting. Parsons remains a free agent without an agency, leaving his managers at 3 Arts Entertainment and lawyers at Ziffren Brittenham to handle the courtship.
The sudden frenzy arrives following the success of three digitally native filmmakers who delivered outsized theatrical hits this year. Parsons’ “Backrooms” has grossed $364 million, Curry Barker’s “Obsession” earned $428 million through Focus Features, and YouTuber Markiplier self-released “Iron Lung” to a $50 million haul. Studios are now scrambling to find the next online creator capable of bringing an established audience to theaters, so securing a potential goldmine like Parsons is likely top of mind for all of them.
For A24, losing Parsons would repeat a familiar disappointing pattern. The studio watched The Daniels turn “Everything Everywhere All At Once” into an Oscar-winning phenomenon before signing a deal at Universal Pictures, while horror auteur Robert Eggers left the indie studio for Focus Features and the larger budgets of “The Northman” and “Nosferatu.”
A24 now has more money and bigger commercial ambitions following Thrive Capital’s 2024 investment, which valued the company at $3.5 billion. But its expansion has been uneven. “Eddington,” “Death Of A Unicorn,” “Opus,” and “The Smashing Machine” struggled, while “Materialists” and “Marty Supreme” performed well without approaching the runaway success of “Backrooms.”
Parsons is prioritizing original projects, although he has expressed interest in adapting the video game “Portal.” The property is controlled by Valve, which has shown little appetite for film or television adaptations. Parsons is not expected to choose his next home immediately, but Puck says a decision should arrive before the end of the summer. While A24 has put its biggest offer ever on the table, Warner Bros. and HBO may still have the more tempting package.
Let’s wait and see what happens, but given that the world is his oyster, it would not surprise if he did an A24 sequel deal and then tried to carve out a separate lane for TV with HBO.
Born in Chile, raised in Canada, now living in Brooklyn, NY, Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2007. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, MuchMusic, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
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