New horror film based on internet meme Slender Man in the works

Sony division Screen Gems is currently in negotiations with Mythology Entertainment, who are also currently developing The Shining prequel The Overlook Hotel for Warner Bros

The boogeyman of the 21st century was internet made - is anything about that fact surprising?

The Slender Man: the unnaturally tall, thin-limbed man whose featureless face haunts the shadows, was born in June 2009; created by Something Awful forum user Eric Knudsen, after the site set up a thread for Photoshopping paranormal entities into everyday snaps. Stories of this suited man, who would lead children into the woods to murder them, started spreading like wildfire: turning from internet fiction into real urban legend.

The legend turned dark, however, when two 13-year-old girls were charged with stabbing their 12-year-old friend 19 times in Waukesha, Wisconson. Specifically, the woods Slender Man is commonly thought to stalk, with the girls claiming the attack was committed to "show devotion to Slender Man" and "to prove he's real, and so he wouldn't kill their families".

It would only be a matter of time until Hollywood came calling for the now-notorious figure, with The Hollywood Reporter reporting a deal is currently being struck for a Slender Man movie. Sony division Screen Gems is currently in negotiations with Mythology Entertainment, who are also currently developing The Shining prequel The Overlook Hotel for Warner Bros.

The character has already formed the inspiration for episodes of both Supernatural and Law and Order; with HBO producing a documentary entitled Beware the Slenderman, which recently premiered at SXSW.

There had been rumours the next series of American Horror Story would take its theme from the character, though those reports seem to be unfounded.