Trevor Henderson, the horror creator behind Siren Head and Cartoon Cat, is taking his podcast “Mayfair Watchers Society” to the big screen. Cineverse will adapt it as a feature film, Variety reported in an exclusive.
The podcast began in 2022 on Cineverse’s Bloody FM network. Its official description calls it “a collection of found tapes and audio accounts”, with each episode following different residents who run into Henderson’s kind of monster. The film keeps that shape. It will be a found footage anthology built from several of the podcast’s stories and creatures: The Needle, Creekman, Owls with Teeth, Mr. Bag, Anxious Dogs, Scissors and The Clatter.
Henderson in the writing room
Henderson will produce and sit on the writing team. He said the Cineverse and Bloody Disgusting teams “have been great partners on the podcast” and that he has long admired the company’s film side and its indie philosophy. He plans to be “very hands-on”, working with them as the film develops and the directing and writing teams are chosen.
A hot market for internet-born horror
Studios are chasing digitally native properties, helped along by the success of A24’s $400 million hit “Backrooms”, and Henderson has benefited more than most. Warner Bros. won the rights to Siren Head after a competitive bidding war, and director Brian Duffield and screenwriter Zach Cregger are developing it for the screen. A few weeks later, TriStar Pictures picked up Cartoon Cat for a feature.
Cineverse is the genre studio behind “Terrifier 3”, the “Toxic Avenger” remake and “Silent Night, Deadly Night”. Its recent releases include a 20th anniversary presentation of Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth”, which reached theaters on Oct. 8.
Henderson is represented by Verve, Redshift and Marios Rush. Macias and Cineverse VP Creative Development and Filmmaker Relations Steven Peros negotiated the deal.
Sources
- Cineverse to Adapt Trevor Henderson’s Horror Podcast ‘Mayfair Watchers Society’ Into Movie (EXCLUSIVE)
- A horror podcast becomes a feature film
