‘Backrooms’ Director Kane Parsons Distances $400M Hit From Horror Moniker: “I Don’t View It As A Horror Project”- Zurich Summit

Kane Parson’s $400M hit Backrooms, spinning off his web-series inspired by “creepypasta’ horror content on the internet, is invariably and understandably billed as a horror.

The director told a panel at the Zurich Summit on Saturday, however, that he does not see it as being aligned with the genre.

“I didn’t direct like a horror film. I don’t view it as a horror project. I think that’s just naturally been the path of least resistance from a marketing perspective and it’s what seems comfortable to people as a framing device,” he said,

Parsons acknowledged that A24, which spearheaded the adaptation the web-series and distributed the movie, would not like his comments, but added he hoped to be able to avoid this sort of framing in the future.

“I’m going to try to stay as oblivious to those labels as possible… I think I have more creative control now with future projects so those sorts of structures will probably be a little less forceful in the future,” he said.

Parsons was talking on a panel on the $4.7 billion resurgence at the U.S. box office this summer, alongside Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO Bill Kramer; President & Chief Content Officer Mattel Studios and Barbie producer Robbie Brenner and Sony Pictures Classics co-head Michael Barker.

Kramer, Brenner and Barker all acknowledged the role played by Backrooms in the box office resurgence, alongside Obsession, which was also born out of the YouTube space.

“Backrooms was an amazing example… and speaks to one of the things that’s happening with our industry…. your fandom travelled from YouTube to the theaters,” said Kramer.

“Young people want to go back to movie theaters. Fandoms shift. Theatrical can inform a fandom. YouTube can inform a theatrical fandom. It’s all connected in a way that I don’t think we thought was possible, and that for me was a big takeaway of this summer, and it gives me great hope for the film industry.