Chiwetel Ejiofor and Cristin Milioti are in talks to star in The Backrooms, A24‘s sci-fi horror flick based on the viral series of found-footage videos from Kane Parsons, Deadline can confirm.
Reps for the studio declined to comment. No word on the roles to be played by the duo, and their deals may not make in the end, as it’s still early days here. We were first to report on the project back in 2023, and while its plot remains a mystery, the ’90s-set original short watches as a young filmmaker’s fall into another dimension leaves him wandering through an unsettlingly yellow, empty and labyrinthine office space, which may or may not be home to otherworldly beings. The film’s title and setting draw inspiration from the imagery of a creepypasta (or internet urban legend) published to the website 4chan in 2019.
A prodigy of a filmmaker and VFX artist barely out of high school, Parsons shot his YouTube following into the stratosphere with the viral success of his mysterious short, “The Backrooms (Found Footage).” It’s the first in a series of found-footage horror videos which have garnered many, many millions of views online and will now be adapted for the big screen by A24, Atomic Monster, Chernin Entertainment and 21 Laps.
Parsons will direct from a script by Roberto Patino. Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen and Dan Levine will produce for 21 Laps, along with James Wan and Michael Clear for Atomic Monster, and Patino. Alayna Glasthal is overseeing for Atomic Monster, with Judson Scott exec producing for the company alongside White.
Most recently seen starring in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Ejiofor is part of the cast of Mike Flanagan’s The Life of Chuck, which Neon releases in June, as well as Scarlett Johansson’s Cannes-premiering debut feature Eleanor the Great. Upcoming, he’ll also be seen in The Old Guard 2 at Netflix and Children of Blood and Bone from Paramount.
Coming off of rave reviews for her work in The Penguin and another stand-out Black Mirror turn in USS Calister: Into Infinity, Miloti most recently boarded the FX pilot Seven Sisters.
The InSneider’s Jeff Sneider was first to the news on the actors in talks for The Backrooms.
The post Chiwetel Ejiofor & Cristin Milioti Eyed To Star In ‘The Backrooms’ At A24 appeared first on Deadline.
