Two weeks after Backrooms became a hit, Hollywood’s looking to more YouTube for the next big thing. And that search has led them to Kevin Cate’s Open Door.
Per Variety, the short film will became a big-budget movie through a six figure development deal. Leading that charge is executive producers Rick Kearney and Cate’s production company Clinging Vine Films. Cate wrote the film’s spec script with Io writer Charles Spano, and this’ll be Cate’s second film. (His debut, Unbearable Christmas, is a comedy starring Julia Stiles and David Cross, which currently lacks a release date.)
Open Door is about two coworkers who wind up in a stalled elevator, after which things take a turn for the worst. Across YouTube, Instagram, and Tiktok, the three-minute short amassed over 15 million views, and Cate said in a press statement that fans have repeatedly “asked me what our characters saw down there. I really, really can’t wait to show everyone — and give some hints along the way.” He went on to say that he’s “ride or die” with the original cast and crew, and the short’s two stars, Sean Anthony Baker and Mia Matthews, will reprise their roles for the full feature.
Cate also launched a website to track the film’s progress. It’s currently in the budgeting phase, and fans can sign up to provide “hard proof the world wants this movie.” Future milestones like financing and casting are laid out in the timeline, but Cate’s currently not asking for any money to get the ball rolling. In his ideal world, Cate wants to lock down funding and casting “soon” so he can film Open Door this year and release it in 2027.
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