Writer/director Kane Parsons‘ movie “The Backrooms” has become not only a landmark horror film, but also a box office smash-hit, with the movie earning an impressive $330 million and counting at the global box office on a budget said to be around/under $10 million (rather large profit margin for Parsons’ debut feature). The young filmmaker had recently expressed an interest in tackling the video game “Portal” as a possible studio IP venture, and there may be some minor movement on that front (even if it’s just a tiny tease at this point).
Parsons had posted images of himself at the Valve (creators of “Portal” and “Half-Life“) offices on Instagram Stories (via Culture Crave) last week, which had the internet a-buzz. Then again, this could be a simple tour or could have evolved into an actual pitch meeting. If you weren’t already aware, Valve would also be the folks who would likely have to sign off on any film/television adaptations of their games, and they’ve been extremely protective of their creations.
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In the past, director J.J. Abrams had his own interest in turning their popular and inventive sci-fi shooters “Half-Life” and “Portal” into movies (but they never materialized), and Dan Trachtenberg (“Prey,” “Predator: Badlands”) made his an impressive “Portal” short (see below), showcasing the visual potential of a full-scale movie adaptation.
We really don’t want to speculate too much here; however, we’ve seen on the rise filmmakers take on a heap of industry meetings to feel out what they want to do next, and we’ve seen folks like Zach Cregger and Curry Barker end up landing on their respective studio IP, such as their reboots of “Resident Evil” and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” There already seems to be some organic excitement among moviegoers and die-hard fans to see what Cregger’s contribution to the film franchise is going to look like after a promising teaser trailer with lead Austin Abrams trying to simply survive that world like any normal human character would.
Another comparable example would be the Aussie twin filmmakers and YouTubers, The Philippou Brothers, who, after getting major buzz from their 2022 horror film “Talk To Me,” posted a slew of behind-the-scenes photos of wide-ranging studio meetings (even Lucasfilm) that eventually led to them attaching to Legendary‘s “Street Fighter” remake, only to bail to focus on another original project, “Bring Her Back” at A24 instead.
Way too early to start making assumptions that a “Portal” movie deal is 100% happening, but it’s certainly a good sign that Valve is interested in the idea of Kane Parsons doing something with them, we’ll keep our fingers crossed regardless.
‘The Backrooms’ director Kane Parsons visiting Valve
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) June 26, 2026
He recently expressed interest in making a ‘Portal’ film pic.twitter.com/0D35J9zihn
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