Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. WBD has secured the rights to adapt the wildly popular r/NoSleep story "I Pretended to Be a Missing Girl So I Could Rob Her Family," originally written by Joe Cote, an English teacher from Massachusetts on Reddit Inc. RDDT.
What Happened: The chilling psychological thriller or crime fiction tale follows a woman who impersonates a long-lost daughter to infiltrate a grieving family, only to find herself caught in a far darker twist.
The story drew comparisons to the 2009 film "Orphan" and quickly became a fan favorite within Reddit's "creepypasta" community—where horror fans post first-person stories and suspend disbelief as if the events happened, reported the Business Insider.
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Sydney Sweeney, known for her breakout roles in "Euphoria" and "Anyone But You," is attached to star and produce. Oscar-winning "Forrest Gump" screenwriter Eric Roth is tapped to pen the script.
Why It's Important: The film marks yet another example of Hollywood mining internet culture for ready-made horror hits.
Past efforts include "Slender Man" (2018), which originated as a creepypasta internet meme, and A24's "Zola" (2021), based on a 2015 viral Twitter (now called X) thread.
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Last month, Warner Bros. announced its fiscal fourth-quarter revenue, showing a 1% year-over-year decline (excluding foreign exchange impacts) to $10.03 billion, slightly below analysts’ expectations of $10.19 billion. The company aims to reach 150 million streaming subscribers by 2026.
Price Action: WBD stock closed Friday's session at $10.74, rising 0.85%. It added another 0.45% in after-hours trading. Year-to-date, the stock is up 1.61%, while over the past 12 months, it has surged 23.17%, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Image via Shutterstock
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