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Hollywood Mines Internet Horror IP
Courtesy of Shutter Authority via YouTube
Hollywood studios and streamers are inking multimillion-dollar deals for internet-native horror properties in hopes of replicating the success of this summer’s surprise hits, Backrooms and Obsession.
The Big Picture: Obsession has become the highest-grossing film ever made for under $1 million, while Backrooms has easily become A24’s highest-grossing movie — and both did it by drawing a largely under-30 audience. In recent years, that’s been the hardest demographic to get into theaters. With Gen Z’s interest in moviegoing surging, appealing to the generation’s tastes has become one of Hollywood’s top priorities.
Behind The Search: Two major deals are already setting the stage for another YouTube-first summer at the box office.
Siren Head — a monster illustration that inspired YouTube Shorts, merch, and even a Roblox game — sold to Warner Bros. for millions after a bidding war, with Brian Duffield set to direct and Duffield and Zach Cregger writing the screenplay.
The creator, 40-year-old Trevor Henderson, first created the character in 2018. He reportedly received $1 million for the film rights alone while retaining the publishing and game rights — a deal that’s virtually unheard of.
The Mandela Catalogue — a found-footage psychological horror series on YouTube — sold to United Artists and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin for millions after an 11-way bidding war. Its 22-year-old creator, Alex Kister, will direct the feature adaptation.
The WSJ reports that several agents and producers are preparing to take more internet-native horror pitches to market in the coming weeks.
Closing Credits: There’s truly never been a better time to pitch a YouTube- or Reddit-born horror concept. Michael De Luca, co-chair of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, said the studio is “seeing them as a resource for adaptations, the same way we look at books and other media.”
But there’s a limited pool of creators who currently have the tools to make the leap into feature filmmaking, so some producers are stepping in to help cultivate that talent. Roy Lee, who’s producing Siren Head, is working with creators from the SCP Foundation to develop short films. And Aaron B. Koontz, who originated the package for The Mandela Catalogue, is launching an incubator to help creators develop their horror ideas.
Coming Soon: The YouTube-ification of IP could drive the biggest blurring yet between Hollywood and the creator economy — and potentially fuel a major surge at the box office.
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Polled and Copy-edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.