At this point, Slender Man needs no introduction. A creepy, wire-thin figure, he’s been revered as something of an Internet legend since his inception in 2009, stalking nightmares and effectively clawing his way into popular culture thanks to a string of nerve-shredding short films, an appearance in Microsoft’s über-popular Minecraft and even two video games.
For having so much exposure in the horror scene, it’s small wonder then why it’s taken so long for a Hollywood studio to fast-track a live-action feature film, but thankfully, Screen Gems jumped at the chance in early 2016. Scribe David Birke (Elle, 13 Sins) is handling the script, with French director Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard, The Losers) doling out the scares from behind the camera. And now, with production underway, the studio has debuted the chilling first poster, which can be seen below.
As we said above, the character was birthed in 2009 via an online PhotoShop contest, one designed to warp original photographs so that they appeared supernatural. Created by Eric Knudsen (AKA “Victor Surge”), the blood-curdling image came accompanied with the following caption: “We didn’t want to go, we didn’t want to kill them, but its persistent silence and outstretched arms horrified and comforted us at the same time . . . 1983, photographer unknown, presumed dead.”
Drawing from that rich lore, it’s easy to imagine Screen Gems crafting a low-budget horror flick here in the vein of, say, a Blumhouse production, as the source material certainly fits the studio’s M.O. Chalk that up as speculation for now though, as plot details are scarce, but what we can tell you with absolute certainty is that Slender Man has been invited out of the woods and is now shooting ahead of its May 18th debut in theatres around the world.