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Hollywood has found its latest obsession, and this meme won’t be found in any backrooms on the Internet.
After emerging at the head of a bidding war between five studios with a massive multi-million dollar deal, Warner Bros. Pictures owns the underlying rights to Siren heada viral horror sensation created by creature designer Trevor Henderson that centers around a tall, rotting skeletal figure with two whistles as a head.
Making this package even more exciting for studios is the strong talent attached to it. Weapons Director Zach Krieger is collaborating on the screenplay with Brian Duffield, who will direct his next survival film Whales fall It’s already generating buzz. The plan would be for Duffield to direct it.
Krieger will also produce the film in collaboration with Roy Lee and Andrew Childs of Vertigo Entertainment, the production company that produced the film. Weapons. Scott Glass Gould of 12:01 Films, which specializes in finding Hollywood material online, will also produce the film. Duffield will produce through his Jurassic Party Productions banner.
The rights, product and talent package only came together last week with bidding rising like fireworks on the Fourth of July. The intensity of the bidding and the high price of the package not only shows the power of the players involved, but also shows how Internet memes have become a very insignificant resource for Hollywood films.
In reality, Siren head It seems that it is preparing to be the first deal of this kind after its success Back roomswhich helped kick off the trend with its stunning $81.4 million opening on May 29. The rights deal alone was said to be in the low seven figures and the auction featured all the major studios, including Sony, Universal, Paramount and Disney 20y Century Studios, located behind Duffield’s Whales fall. Theatrical release was central to the deal, which excluded the participation of large streaming companies.
At Warners, the package initially caught the attention of executives at WB Clockwork, the studio’s new specialty division, but as the scope grew, they turned to the big Warners in pursuit.
This meme was created by Canadian artist Henderson in 2018, and was originally a drawing of a unique-looking cryptid. Once Henderson put it online, it took off in an unexpected way beyond anyone’s understanding. Before long, there were not just YouTube anime, there were fan theories, fan-made short films, fan-made video games, and a plethora of fan-made merchandise as Gen Z youth became obsessed with them, much to the bewilderment of their parents.
“My 6 year old has been obsessed with this Sirenhead thing for the past month after he saw a horror video about it. He says he wants the movie and I have no idea what it is. Does anyone else know what it is?” one Reddit user wrote. That was six years ago.
By some accounts, the viral phenomenon featuring this predatory creature lurking in rural areas and forests releasing various recordings has garnered 3 billion views on TikTok, 1 billion views on YouTube, and millions of Roblox plays.
However, the deal isn’t just a play on some hot memes. Siren head It developed into its own monster mythology, the appeal of which appealed to Krieger and Woodfield. The pair are said to have found an entry into the world that prompted them to collaborate, which in turn spurred studios to bid.
Finding what will bring Gen Z to theaters has become the focus of Hollywood thanks to the unexpected success of Back roomsdirected by Ken Parsons and mania“, directed by Carrie Parker. Both gained a following through their horror shorts on YouTube. The audience for Gen Z films is nascent but very important as millennials and their preferences, which include superhero films and young adult dystopian romances, give way to the next generation.
Glassgold and Henderson have a long-standing creative partnership with the two collaborating on the 2024 Sony film, Tarot. Glassgold produced Henderson and also hired him to create all nine items TarotMonsters.
Verve Talent, which represents Henderson, oversaw the rights auction. This is the second massive bidding war for terrifying IP that Verve has been at the center of this year, the previous one The Texas Chainsaw Massacre That went to A24 in a five-way bidding war at the studio.
Cregger is repped by CAA and Jackoway Austen, while Duffield is repped by UTA, Circle of Confusion and Howard Abramson. Vertigo is repped by CAA and Aron Baumel, while 12:01 is repped by Verve and attorney Jeff Frankel. Henderson is also represented by manager Josh Dove and attorney Marius Rush.
