Backrooms Director Kane Parsons Wants to Make a Portal Movie
Kane Parsons, the rising director behind the popular Backrooms series, has revealed his desire to direct a Portal movie. In a recent interview with The New York Times, Parsons mentioned that a Portal adaptation is a dream project for him. This isn't due to any desire to become an IP merchant — in fact, it's the opposite. During an appearance on The Town podcast, Parsons clearly stated that he had no interest in directing a Star Wars film, and the only intellectual properties that appealed to him were a select few from his childhood in the 2000s. While he didn't name them, the vague description led many to believe that Portal could be one of his targets.
Parsons grew up playing Valve titles like Half-Life and Portal, and even created a Portal short film on his YouTube channel long before he launched the Backrooms series. The Backrooms franchise and Portal both share a common element — large, eerie spaces that create a sense of unease. Some have drawn comparisons between the liminal space horror of Backrooms and the unsettling nature of Aperture Science's sterile test chambers, especially the corridors and caverns found in Portal 2.
Previous Attempts to Adapt Portal
There have been previous attempts to bring Portal to the big screen. Director JJ Abrams was once attached to adapt both Half-Life and Portal through his production company, Bad Robot. However, that announcement came back in 2013, and there hasn't been much movement on the project since. In 2021, Abrams told IGN that Portal was still in development at Warner Bros., but the project has remained largely quiet. It's unclear what the holdup has been, but with the recent surge in gaming adaptations, it's only logical that someone would want to bring Portal to life.
Parsons may be the right person for the job, but it's uncertain whether Valve will approve of his vision. It's also possible that Bad Robot and Warner Bros. still hold the rights to the Portal franchise, which could lead to further complications. However, after seeing the success of Backrooms, it would be surprising if Valve didn't consider Parsons for his dream project.
