‘Backrooms’ Director Kane Parsons May Be Eyeing Portal Movie

Filmmaker Kane Parsons has fueled speculation that he could be preparing a movie based on Valve’s Portal, one of the most popular puzzle games of the past two decades. Parsons, 21, recently shared video from a visit to Valve’s headquarters. The post did not announce a project, but it drew attention because Parsons has repeatedly cited Portal as an influence on his work. The footage was later shared widely on X. The timing matters for Parsons, whose first feature, Backrooms, became a major box-office hit. The film reportedly earned $394 million worldwide after being made for about $10 million. Its performance placed the former YouTube creator among Hollywood’s most profitable young directors and showed again that studios are looking harder at online creators with established audiences. Video game movies have also become a major part of Hollywood’s release strategy. Several game adaptations reached theaters this year, including Mark Fischbach’s Iron Lung and Zach Cregger’s new version of Resident Evil. The trend has brought real financial results, though studios still face pressure to make films that respect the source material instead of using familiar titles as empty brand names. P...