A 20-year-old making his feature debut at A24 was always going to attract skeptics, but nobody expected the response to be this good.
Backrooms, the A24 horror film based on Kane Parsons’ viral YouTube series, opens in theaters tomorrow, May 29. The film is projected to debut with a massive $40 to $50 million opening weekend. But instead of letting the film speak for itself in the days before release, Parsons found himself at the center of an ugly online rumor claiming he never actually directed it.
Kane Parsons and Mark Duplass Shut Down the Ghost-Director Rumors
The rumor circulating online claimed that Parsons didn’t actually direct Backrooms and that producer Osgood Perkins was the one really calling the shots. Parsons’ response? He leaned into the absurdity of it all, posting a satirical reply suggesting that 96% of Hollywood films are secretly directed by the same mysterious man, “The Older Gentleman,” who has Hollywood in a chokehold and “loves movies.”
“This is actually all true,” joked Parsons in the comments section of a video from YouTuber Dolan Dark. “They don’t tell you this, but 96% of all movies released in North America and Europe are actually directed by the same person. They call him ‘The Older Gentleman.’ He has had all of Hollywood in a chokehold for decades now. They make you sign over all of your intellectual property, life rights, and genetic information to him when you enter the industry. He loves movies.”
Cast member Mark Duplass went a step further and took the rumor head-on. On X, Duplass wrote: “When I was there, Kane was 100% in control. More so than many directors 3x his age.” He then elaborated in an Instagram video, explaining that he was originally hired partly because he mentors young filmmakers and the production anticipated he might need to step in. “What happened was, he didn’t need any of us,” Duplass said.
Duplass described Parsons as “intensely prepared,” noting that he had spent the last five years building out one of the most detailed mythologies he had ever been part of, working closely with his crew on shot design and handling actors with “sensitivity and calm and smarts.”
The film is produced by James Wan, Shawn Levy, and Osgood Perkins, a roster of heavy hitters that likely fueled the speculation in the first place. It stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, and Lukita Maxwell.
Backrooms opens exclusively in theaters on May 29, 2026.
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