Studios bought fewer horror projects in July. The biggest deals came from creepypasta.
Deal volume fell 13% from June. Netflix held first place for a second month. And half of the month’s eight highest-graded deals originated as unowned internet horror: creepypasta, ARG, SCP.
127
tracked deal stories
A tracked deal story is one deal, counted once, on first sighting across 500+ trade and genre sources. It measures reported activity, not money. ScreamWire publishes no dollar figure unless a source states it verbatim.
Where the IP came from
Half of July’s top deals came from IP that nobody owned
Where it came from
Deals
Who bought it
Creepypasta, ARG and SCP wikis
4
Siren Head →Warner Bros.
The Mandela Catalogue →Amazon MGM
Cartoon Cat →Sony / TriStar
SCP Foundation →V/H/S
Books
41
Netflix, Sony and 10 others
Existing horror titles
35
Paramount, Lionsgate, Sony and 1 other
Original specs
1
20th Century — the month’s only tracked spec sale
All four share a trait: no rights holder to negotiate against, no purchase price to report, and an audience that arrived before the deal did.
Siren Head · Zach Cregger and Brian Duffield attached · Warner Bros. · Jul 2
The Mandela Catalogue · Steven Spielberg producing · Amazon MGM · Jul 3
SCP Foundation · Roy Lee and Steven Schneider producing, V/H/S banner · Jul 7