Backrooms Movie — Director’s Cut Wrap-Up

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Kane’s first post on his Discord that appeared to be movie related was a photo of what has been speculated to be a couple of chairs in possibly a small theater used by A24 for test screenings.

A couple of days later, one of the Discord members commented to Kane that no one is really stopping him from making videos (in reference to his YouTube series).

Kane: I mean technically I have been making a video
Kane: It’s currently 2 hours long

Author comment: imagine 2 hours of Backrooms! That would be insane!

Kane: We’re trimming it down

Discord User: How much % do y’all have of the movie

Kane: The movie is watchable but still needs to be refined for a while

Discord User: will the marketing campaign start soon (with early teasers and stuff) or will it be closer to the launch?

Kane: Closer to launch
Kane: There may be more YT episodes before then however
Kane: THIS IS NOT A PROMISE

It was just as well he added the last part in caps. Internet users tend to jump on comments and we’re sure that if Kane didn’t mention that it wasn’t a promise there would have been people saying there would be episodes because Kane said it.

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Towards the end of October, Kane would come back online and give users an update not just on Backrooms but also some of his other projects.

Kane: On a real note though, I’ve got several videos for several series in development currently
Kane: However the amount of time I have on any given day to work on them is next to zero
Kane: Has been since like March
Kane: Movie is pretty cool though
Kane: Quite excited to show you guys
Kane: About two weeks left till director’s cut is over
Kane: Also, not even I have release date knowledge yet

Discord User: Kane will the movie reference portal

Kane: A little bit

Discord User: Will your music be in the film

Kane: Yes

Discord User: Kane, do you consider submitting the movie to a film festival or like a Sundance film Festival??

Kane: I don’t personally have a preference at present

His response about Portal was an unusual one. Even though Kane is an avid gamer, having a direct reference to Portal is confusing. Based on previous set leaks, it appears that the movie will take place in 1990 (or very close to). The first Portal game wasn’t released until 2007. A time-jump of 17 years seems a bit unlikely. So maybe it could just be a reference to something from the Portal universe or an Easter egg.

That his music will be in the movie however is definitely exciting! A lot of fans feel that Kane’s music works perfectly with the series, but many also thought he may not be doing the music for the movie given his director role. We definitely are looking forward to what he comes up with for this!

Kane came back onto his Discord server once more on November 5th to let everyone know when the Directors Cut would be done. And once again he expressed how much he missed doing YouTube videos.

Kane: Anyway, directors cut over tomorrow
Kane: That does NOT mean movie done
Kane: And it does NOT mean I’m not still working on it every single day
Kane: Guys I miss making YouTube videos

Working on a full feature film under a studio would definitely be quite different to doing your own smaller projects. Even though he has been given creative freedom by A24, there are still many things working for a studio would involve that doing your own thing wouldn’t.

But based on his final comment here, it sounds like even if he continues his career as a director in the future, he is likely to continue making shorter videos of his own on YouTube — of course depending on time that he has available.

So What’s Next?

Generally once the Director’s Cut is done, the film is handed over to the Production Company — so in this case A24. From there A24 will start adding music and any sound effects and video touch-ups / color grading. Kane of course would continue to work closely with them during this time as indicated in his comments. Not only since he will be doing some of the music himself but also as he will be retaining creative control, he will want to ensure that the movie still stays in-line with his vision.

Note that the above has NOT been stated by Kane — aside from his reference to working on it every day — the above paragraph is based on general information when it comes to the next stage in film-production therefore the process could vary from this.

Are we getting any closer to a trailer? How about a release date?

Kane already mentioned that even he has no idea about the actual release date (and even if he did he definitely wouldn’t be allowed to say anything). This kind of thing is usually announced and set by the studio. So it’s in the hands of A24.

As for a trailer, that too is unknown. Kane gave a little hint when someone asked about the marketing indicating it would take place “closer” to release. But that too is vague. A teaser trailer can come out 6 months early for some films. Or Kane could have just been referring to actual marketing which could be anything from traditional media such as cinema posters and advertising, to an actual ARG tie-in (which actually would work really well for a movie like Backrooms).

So really, we are left with much the same questions we had at the start of post-production. Just with the movie being further along the production timeline. But as always, we appreciate Kane taking time to let his fans know how things are going, this is definitely something an older director wouldn’t usually do, seeing they aren’t as tuned in to online culture as a younger director.