Tongal, a media studio focused on content creators, in partnership with TikTok star Savanah Moss, is developing a feature film based on the nearly 20-year-old internet horror meme known as Jeff the Killer. It’s yet another example of Hollywood rushing to adapt online creepypastas and viral horror shorts into films in the desperate hope of landing the next Backrooms-like blockbuster.
According to The WrapMoss, an online content creator with more than 11 million followers on TikTok, will help produce the film and shape its creative direction. Tongal and Moss will also reach out to the internet and content creators to solicit ideas and characters for the film. Some of these ideas will be selected and those creators will be paid $300. Some more will get “honorable mentions” and receive $50. Everyone else will get nothing. This is called “spec work” and it sucks. Just hire real creative people and pay them.
Jeff the Killer first appeared in 2008. as a modified image of a creepy face that quickly spread across the web. A story emerged around him, often involving a young teenage serial killer going on a rampage. He whispered “Go to sleep” before killing people.
“I grew up reading Jeff the Killer and all the creepypasta horror stories, so there’s definitely a nostalgic connection for me,” Moss told The Wrap. “I’ve even used Jeff in some of my ‘Fever Dream’ videos in the past, so it’s crazy to fast forward to now and have the opportunity to help turn this character into a movie. What I’ve always loved about Jeff is how much of the character was built through the Internet. Jeff stuck with people and became an Internet icon. Now, there are so many different versions of his story from people who have added to it and reinvented it over the years.”
Jeff the Killer is just one of many horror stories and Internet memes that caught the attention of Hollywood after Backrooms, based on the popular online series, exploded at the box office on a shoestring budget. Since Backrooms racked up more than $300 million worldwide, other studios and producers have been snapping up the film rights to things like Siren Head and The Mandela Catalogue. All of these films, as well as the recently announced Jeff the Killer, are likely to be rushed into production as Hollywood smells a potential gold mine and goes to work.
“We have this unique opportunity to take the character everyone knows and loves and create a truly terrifying and grounded horror film, while still staying true to Jeff’s origin,” Moss said. “I don’t just want to recreate creepypasta; I want Jeff to feel terrifyingly real.” The Jeff the Killer movie does not yet have a cast, writer or director.
