Tongal, a content creator–focused media studio, 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 is yet another example of Hollywood rushing to adapt online creepypasta and viral horror shorts into movies in the desperate hope of landing the next Backrooms-like blockbuster.
As reported by The Wrap, Moss, an online content creator with over 11 million followers on TikTok, will help produce the film and shape its creative direction. Tongal and Moss are also going to reach out to the internet and content creators to solicit ideas and characters for the film. A few of these ideas will be selected, and those creators will be paid $300. A few more will get “honorable mentions” and receive $50. Everyone else will get nothing. This is called “spec work,” and it sucks. Just hire actual creative people and pay them.
Jeff the Killer first popped up in 2008 as a modified image of a creepy face that spread around the web quickly. A story popped up around it that often involved a young teenage serial killer who went on a rampage. He would whisper “Go to sleep” before killing people.
“I grew up reading Jeff the Killer and all of 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 actually have the opportunity to help turn this character into a feature film. What I’ve always loved about Jeff is how much of the character was built by the internet. Jeff stuck with people and became an internet icon. Now, there are so many different versions of his story from people adding to it and reimagining it throughout the years.”
Jeff the Killer is just one of many internet horror stories and memes to catch the eye of Hollywood after Backrooms, based on the popular online series, exploded at the box office on a tiny budget. Since Backrooms racked up over $300 million worldwide, other studios and producers have been buying up the film rights to things like Siren Head and The Mandela Catalogue. All of these films, as well as the just-announced Jeff the Killer, are likely to be fast-tracked into production as Hollywood smells a possible goldmine and digs in.
“We have this unique opportunity to take the character everyone knows and loves and create a truly terrifying, grounded horror film, while still staying true to Jeff’s origin,” said Moss. “I don’t just want to recreate the creepypasta — I want to make Jeff feel terrifyingly real.” The Jeff the Killer movie doesn’t yet have a cast, writer, or director.