DreamWorks/PSNIPersonally I was glad when Momo’s horrendously creepy face stopped popping up everywhere I turned but it looks like we’ll be seeing a lot more of it in a Momo movie.
I’m sure anyone who’s had access to the internet in the last year or so knows all about Momo but, on the off-chance you managed to successfully avoid the rumours surrounding it, allow me to refresh your memory.
‘Momo’ is the name attached to the creepy face of a woman with lank hair, bulging eyes and a haunting, thin smile. It was actually a sculpture called ‘Mother Bird’, which formed part of a 2016 gallery exhibit in Tokyo for Japanese artist Keisuke Aisawa.
Since Momo is going viral again, let’s remember the actual momo is a sculpture named Mother Bird by a talented artist in Japan, not an internet monster. pic.twitter.com/Bb9UmoKKKR
— 𝕸𝖊𝖉𝖚𝖘𝖆 (@baby_bruja) February 28, 2019
However, last year there were rumours of it being attached to a ‘suicide challenge’ on WhatsApp, which claimed ‘Momo’ would send people tasks and even encourage them to take their own lives.
The concept of Momo was later deemed a hoax– though experts and charities still urged parents to keep an eye on what their children were doing online.
The moral panic surrounding the image eventually died down but apparently this was actually only just beginning now it’s been revealed a Momo movie is in the works.
as if they’re making A MOMO MOVIE this is both the best and worst news i have heard all day
— Eleanor Neale 🕊 (@EleanorxNeale) July 10, 2019
According to Deadline, Orion Pictures is partnering with producer Roy Lee’s Vertigo Entertainment and the producer of the original 1995 Japanese version of The Ring, Taka Ichise, to develop a horror film based on the scary sculpture.
Details about the film are slim at the moment but if Lee and Ichise’s previous films are anything to go by it’s likely to be terrifying. As well as creating The Ring, the pair worked together on The Grudge.
Columbia PicturesLee also produced huge Hollywood hit It, which went on to become the highest-grossing horror film of all-time, so it’s safe to say these guys know their way around a horror.
Considering the still images of Momo were enough to freak people out, I can imagine the Momo movie will be a whole new level of terrifying. I don’t think I’ll be rushing to the cinema to see that one!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.