Warner Bros. Wins Siren Head Film Rights After Bidding War
Warner Bros. has come out on top of a five-studio bidding war for Siren Head, beating out Sony, Universal, Paramount, and 20th Century for the rights to Trevor Henderson‘s viral creature. The deal, first reported by Deadline, lands the studio a piece of IP that’s racked up 3 billion TikTok views and a billion more on YouTube.
Brian Duffield (No One Will Save You) is set to direct from a script he’s co-writing with Weapons filmmaker Zach Cregger. Both will produce alongside Roy Lee, Andrew Childs, and Scott Glassgold, with Henderson exec producing. According to The Hollywood Reporter,the auction was run by Verve Talent Agency, the same shop behind this year’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre bidding war, which A24 won.
Trevor Henderson
Henderson first posted Siren Head in 2018, a hand-drawn cryptid — tall, skeletal, blaring distorted audio out of two siren-shaped heads — composited into ordinary photographs. That formula has since spawned a small monster mythology, and Henderson’s fingerprints are already on horror IP, having designed all nine creatures in Sony’s 2024 film Tarot.
Warner’s aggressive spend follows the internet-horror gold rush kicked off by Backrooms, the A24 hit that turned Kane Parsons’ YouTube shorts into a $330 million-plus global smash. Focus Features’ Obsession did much the same for Curry Barker. Studios are clearly betting that whatever worked for those two — young, digital-native creators with built-in fandoms — can work again.
UK horror fans have reason to pay attention here too. Backrooms posted the biggest opening weekend ever for an original horror film in the UK-Ireland territory, taking £4.3m according to Screen Daily, so there’s clearly an appetite over here for exactly this kind of internet-born monster movie.
No writer has been announced beyond Cregger and Duffield, and Warner hasn’t set a release date. We’ll keep you posted on updates about Siren Head as the project develops.
Chloe Jones is a film and television critic dedicated to providing expert analysis of movies, web series, and the latest in prestige TV. Known for her insightful perspective and deep industry knowledge, Chloe helps audiences navigate the crowded streaming landscape with honesty and expertise. Folow me on letterboxd
