Hollywood just spent millions of dollars on a creature with sirens for a head, and somehow, we completely understand.
Warner Bros. Pictures won a five-studio bidding war, beating out Sony, Universal, Paramount, and Disney’s 20th Century Studios, to acquire the rights to Siren Head, the viral horror cryptid created by Canadian artist Trevor Henderson in 2018. The rights deal alone landed in the low seven figures. Brian Duffield (No One Will Save You) will direct from a script he’s co-writing with Zach Cregger (Barbarian, Weapons). Cregger will also produce alongside Roy Lee, Andrew Childs of Vertigo Entertainment, and Scott Glassgold. Henderson executive produces and, crucially, retained control of his creation throughout, which almost never happens with internet IP.
What even is Siren Head? A 40-foot skeletal cryptid with two vintage sirens where its head should be. It haunts rural environments, blending into treelines and telephone poles, and emits distorted broadcasts, emergency alerts, human voices, to lure prey. Henderson posted it online in 2018 and it spiralled into 3 billion TikTok views, 1 billion YouTube views, and millions of Roblox plays.
Why now? Backrooms opened to $81.4 million in May and now sits at $349.7 million globally. Obsession just crossed $400 million. Hollywood has received the message: Gen Z goes to the movies, they go for horror, and they go for horror that started online. Siren Head was always the next domino. Streamers were excluded from the auction entirely, theatrical only.
No production timeline yet. The script remains in development.
