Welp, here's some news that's bound to stretch a creepy smile across your face. It's been announced by Deadline that Orion Pictures is teaming up with Vertigo Entertainment and producer Taka Ichise to devlop a horror movie based on the grotesque sculpture known throughout the net as Momo, a hideous character made popular by a viral hoax called the Momo Challenge.
Sculpted by Japanese artist Keisuke Aisawa for a 2016 gallery exhibit in Tokyo, the chilling statue originally named Mother Bird became the subject of a horrific internet fad that reportedly encouraged children to place themselves in danger, even going so far as to inflict bodily harm on themselves. What began as a quiet but chilling meme soon gained major traction online after Kim Kardashian shared the image of Momo's terrifying visage with her 145 million followers on Instagram. To Kim's credit, even though she helped to spread this nonsense, she did include a warning to parents about there being hidden messages in the YouTube content. After the story started making the rounds, YouTube officials were contacted, but the online video share company neglected to intervene.
When Orion gets to work on bringing Momo to the big screen, the project will see Lee and Ischise, the same dynamic duo that brought THE GRUDGE and THE RING to silver screens, re-teaming for the urban legend effort.
It looks as if we've got another Slender Man-style project on our hands, folks. Here's hoping that Orion and Vertigo's Momo film fairs better than director Sylvain White's 2018 adaptation of the Slender Man tale, which was universally panned by critics and had earned a measly $51.7 at the worldwide box office.