the director who hates AI made the movie that paid for a24's AI deal

Kane Parsons would “snap his fingers and make generative AI disappear forever.” He also directed The Backrooms — A24’s biggest film ever, $350 million worldwide — which is the exact reason Google just wrote A24 a $75 million check.

Parsons called generative AI “a symptom of a broader cultural and economic rot.” His box office success is what made A24 attractive enough for DeepMind’s $75M research partnership. The anti-AI blockbuster is the mechanism that funded the AI deal.

A24’s defense landed with the grace of a man explaining why he only took the bribe to stop other people from taking bribes: “We’d rather have a seat at the table than on the sidelines.” The internet was not appeased. AAA24 memberships were cancelled; the r/A24 subreddit lit up; fans on Instagram and X called it a betrayal.

To be fair: the deal doesn’t include A24’s content library, and it’s framed as a workflow research partnership, not content-licensing.

A24’s brand was built on being too small and cool to sell out. The Backrooms made them too big to stay that way. The indie identity was always affordable at indie scale — once your movie grosses $350 million, the check arrives whether you want it or not.

Parsons has said he’s interested in examining AI as a subject in art. Just not using it.

His studio has other plans.