Sony's TriStar Pictures has pre-emptively acquired feature film rights to "Cartoon Cat," another viral internet creature created by Trevor Henderson, following a bidding war for his "Siren Head" concept that landed at Warner Bros. It marks the second Henderson property optioned for film within a fortnight, underlining a growing Hollywood appetite for adapting internet-born horror IP into feature films, spurred by the success of similar projects like Kane Parsons' "Backrooms" and Markiplier's "Iron Lung."

Cartoon Cat is described as a malevolent entity that manifests using humanity's collective memories of old cartoons to wreak havoc in the real world. TriStar executives Nicole Brown and Malcolm Gray will oversee fast-tracked development, with Roy Lee, Steven Schneider, Scott Glassgold, J. Todd Harris, Thomas Pettinelli and Marc Marcum producing; the studio is now moving quickly to find a filmmaker. Sony has an existing relationship with Henderson, who previously provided concept art for Screen Gems' "Tarot," and the deal is framed as a further bet on him and the wider creator-led content space.