“Backrooms” Faces Four Rivals for the Production Design Oscar

By Marcus Bennett

Variety’s production-design commentary, updated Nov. 5, 2026, sets “Backrooms” against four rivals for the production-design Oscar. The publication calls Kane Parsons’ horror hit “a tantalizing wild card.” Variety credits Danny Vermette’s labyrinth of jaundiced wallpaper with turning the creepypasta into A24’s biggest hit ever.

Variety’s calendar places the 99th Oscars on Sunday, March 14, 2027, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, with Conan O’Brien hosting the live ceremony. The publication says the event will air live at 7 p.m. ET on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.

What does a “Backrooms” win change for the category?

Variety’s test is straightforward: a win would show that the branch can reward cool over costly. The publication notes that horror has cracked the category before, though it has usually required something like a Gothic mansion or haunted hotel rather than a wallpaper maze.

“Backrooms” offers that maze as its design proposition, and Variety presents the film as an outlier rather than a settled leader. Its wild-card status leaves room for movement in either direction.

The field Variety describes

Variety identifies four obstacles for “Backrooms”:

• Nathan Crowley’s ancient Mediterranean for “The Odyssey.”
• The claustrophobic starship of “Project Hail Mary.”
• The lush period world of “La Bola Negra.”
• Patrice Vermette’s return to Arrakis in “Dune: Part Three.”

Each rival offers a concrete visual environment, while “Backrooms” offers the jaundiced wallpaper maze that Variety has placed at the center of the production-design comparison. The alternatives span an ancient Mediterranean, a claustrophobic starship, a lush period world and a return to Arrakis. That range is the problem “Backrooms” must overcome, according to Variety.

In Variety’s account, the strength of the case is a specific visual system: a maze of jaundiced wallpaper set against four contrasting design premises. The difficulty lies in persuading voters that specificity can outweigh those alternatives.

How the prediction can move

Variety’s Awards Circuit section carries awards news and related coverage throughout the year, including official predictions for the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies. Variety chief awards editor Clayton Davis curates those pages. Variety states: “The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender.”

Variety warns that competitions remain fluid and subject to change in response to buzz and events. The pages update every Thursday, and a linked list presents predictions in all categories. Those qualifications matter for “Backrooms”: a wild-card label today is not a fixed verdict before the December shortlist, January nomination vote and March ceremony.

• Sunday, Nov. 15: The Governors Awards will hand out honorary Oscars to Glenn Close and Ridley Scott.
• Dec. 7-11: Preliminary voting for the Oscars shortlist runs in 12 categories.
• Tuesday, Dec. 15: The shortlist announcement follows.
• Dec. 31, 2026: The eligibility period closes.
• Jan. 11-15, 2027: Nominations voting runs.
• Thursday, Jan. 21, 2027: The official Oscar nominations will be announced.

For “Backrooms,” the next test comes with the Dec. 15 shortlist. By March 14, 2027, the Oscars will have tested Variety’s central proposition: whether the production-design branch will reward cool over costly.