Kojima hints at future collaboration with Backrooms director Kane Parsons after joint Q&A in Tokyo

Hideo Kojima and Backrooms director Kane Parsons sat down for a joint Q&A in Roppongi, Tokyo, following a screening of the film — and both dropped hints that a collaboration between the two could be on the horizon. Backrooms only just opened in Japanese cinemas, months after its US release, with Kojima actively involved in the film's local rollout, including a quote on promotional posters.

Speaking at the September 4th screening, Kojima was effusive about what Parsons pulled off. "The movie is full of clever tricks, and its art and sound direction are so inspired, it honestly makes me a little jealous! The visual design and sound is so well-incorporated, I can hardly compete with such talent," he said. Kojima also shared a charming moment from the screening on Twitter — the film carries a G rating in Japan despite its R rating in the US, so the audience included young children. After the lights came up, Kojima overheard a boy grilling his father about how the enormous Backrooms sets were built, assuming it must be CG. Kojima nearly leaned over to reveal it was all practical sets, but held back.

The A24 connection makes Kojima's involvement less surprising than it might seem — the studio produced Backrooms and is also working with Kojima on a film project of his own. Parsons visited Kojima Productions before the screening, photographed at the entrance in a now-familiar ritual: Kojima has a well-documented habit of bringing filmmakers and actors he admires into his orbit, often finding ways to collaborate with them later. Parsons himself acknowledged the possibility directly during the Q&A, saying "I'd love to collaborate with a certain someone in the near future" after talking about his appreciation for Japanese architecture and his time in the country.

Whether anything concrete comes of it remains to be seen, but the groundwork is clearly being laid. Backrooms — born from internet creepypasta and liminal-space horror — is exactly the kind of boundary-pushing, atmosphere-driven work that tends to catch Kojima's eye, and a project pairing the two would be worth watching closely.