MOVIE NEWS – Steven Spielberg, Scott Stuber and Amazon MGM Studios have acquired the film rights to The Mandela Catalogue. Alex Kister’s viral analog horror series could now become Hollywood’s next major internet-born nightmare after Backrooms.
Hollywood is moving deeper into the unsettling world of analog horror, a genre that has become far more visible following the breakout success of Backrooms and the impact of projects such as the V/H/S franchise, Skinamarink and Late Night with the Devil. What was once considered a niche corner of online horror is now moving closer to the mainstream, built around degraded retro media, faux-documentary storytelling and elaborate mythologies that have attracted a dedicated audience.
The Mandela Catalogue has now received a major boost after Scott Stuber’s United Artists, Steven Spielberg’s Amblin and Amazon MGM Studios acquired the film rights to Alex Kister’s viral series. Kister will direct the adaptation from a screenplay he co-wrote with Tyler Clifton, while as many as eleven studios reportedly competed for the project. That level of interest makes sense, because The Mandela Catalogue has the same potential to become a breakout theatrical horror property that helped Backrooms grow far beyond its original online home.
Kister launched the series on YouTube in 2021 with the short film overthrone. The video reshaped clips from The Beginner’s Bible into an unsettling bootleg-style recording, then twisted the Biblical Nativity story by presenting Satan in the guise of the Archangel Gabriel. He announces the birth of Jesus to the shepherds before attempting to present himself as humanity’s “true savior.” The short ends with a monologue from an entity pleading to be released from its shackles.
Kister has since expanded the story through two Acts and eighteen episodes set in the fictional town of Mandela County, Wisconsin. The area is invaded by demonic shapeshifters known as Alternates, creatures that psychologically torture people before attempting to replace them. The Alternates use technology to influence their victims, while the series assembles its invasion narrative through public service announcements, police reports and found footage. The story also includes disturbing imagery and references to self-harm.
More YouTube creators have made the transition into filmmaking in recent years. Dan Trachtenberg reached a wider audience with Prey, Danny and Michael Philippou became major new horror voices after Talk to Me, and David F. Sandberg entered the world of large-scale comic book movies with Shazam!. Earlier this year, Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach also scored a major success with Iron Lung, a cosmic horror film adapted from the game of the same name. It was originally planned for only sixty U.S. theaters, but a fan-led campaign pushed it into more than 3,000 locations, where it earned $51 million worldwide from a $3 million budget.
Spielberg has previously acknowledged the success of Backrooms and Obsession, along with the newfound fame of Kane Parsons and Curry Barker, although he also warned them not to let success go to their heads. Kister, now 22, could be following a similar path, but with the advantage of a legendary filmmaker helping shape the next step. In a recent interview, Kister also suggested that a larger budget could push him away from traditional analog horror techniques toward a more coherent live-action viewpoint film.
Source: MovieWeb
