The Mandela Catalogue finds its home
Only a few days after the news broke on the Siren Head movie deal, news for another film-adaptation of a viral internet horror sensation has been announced.
After another competitive studio bidding war—this time between 11 studios—United Artists’ Scott Stuber, Amblin Entertainment’s Steven Spielberg, and Amazon MGM Studios have won the film rights to the YouTube horror series The Mandela Catalogue. The movie will be directed by the series’ creator, Alex Kister, based on a screenplay he wrote with Tyler Clifton.
Started in 2021, The Mandela Catalogue is set in the fictional Mandela County, located in Wisconsin. The series is about Mandela County being invaded by Alternates, shape-shifting creatures that tend to take on the form of people. It’s seen as one of the works that defined the Analog Horror genre, alongside Kris Straub’s Local 58, Kane Parsons’ Backrooms, and Martin Walls’ The Walten Files.
Analog Horror is a heavily stylized genre with an experimental, retro-video aesthetic. The closest comparison one can make would be to the found footage genre, though while found footage can be featured in analog horror, there’s more to it than that. It feels more like someone used a VHS tape to record a nightmare that was being broadcast onto a CRT, sometimes in the facade of a news program or TV show.
Kister first revealed the movie on May 8, 2025, via a community post on YouTube.
“Ever since June 2022 I have been writing a script for a feature-length film adaptation of The Mandela Catalogue, my analog horror series here on YouTube,” writes Kister. He goes on to give a basic synopsis of the film, “This screenplay tells the story of a group of high school graduates struggling to maintain their grip on reality after the disappearance of a local student sparks a chain of unexplainable, unsettling events.” This story will allegedly take place in a separate continuity from that of the YouTube series.
“This film would combine traditional live action and ‘found footage’ elements to create a horrific, surreal nightmare that utilizes silence, dread, and the uncanny valley to strike primal fear in the heart of the viewer rather than loud jumpscares,” describes Kister. “The goal of this film would be to cause a psychological reaction rather than a short-lived physical one; something that makes you afraid to sleep in your own room… and second guess everyone around you.”
The post ends with Kister sharing an email for producers to get into contact with him, as the film had not been picked up at that time. However, now studios are scrambling to adapt the recent internet horrors popular with younger generations following the massive success of Curry Barker’s Obsession and Kane Parsons’ Backrooms.
Producing the film are Spielberg and Holly Bario for Amblin Entertainment, Aaron B. Koontz for Paper Street Pictures, Stuber and Nick Nesbitt for United Artists, and Kister and Clifton. Annie McCreery will oversee the project for United Artists, and Maria Fortese will do the same for Amblin. The deal was negotiated by Amazon MGM Studios and Sarah Vacchiano for United Artists.
Paper Street Pictures is a small development and production house that specializes in high-concept, genre-bending films and series that take sharp creative swings within efficient production models. They’re no stranger to YouTuber horror films, with one of their recent releases being Chris Stuckmann’s Shelby Oaks (2025).
