In 2008, Columbia pictures snatched rights to a family friendly franchise in waiting; with 300 million copies already in circulation worldwide, R L Stines' mammoth Goosebumps kids horror novel series is second only to Harry Potter in sales. Now, Disturbia writer Carl Ellsworth has been handed the live action feature adaptation. The question is, why has this news not come earlier?Publisher's Scholastic Entertainment hold the rights with Stine to an amazing 75 titles. The property has already spawned video games, television shows and straight-to-video feature, but this would be the first big screen incarnation. Previously Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander who scribed 1408 had their shot at working with material before duties were handed over to Ellsworth.
From what we can gather, the Goosebumps film, will not be based on any of the original stories; but Ellsworth is no stranger to creepy teen thrillers, with Disturbia, Red Dawn and Last House on the Left under his belt already. However, the decision not to use an extensive back catalogue of ideas that has already proven to be a success begs the question, Why purchase the rights of "Goosebumps", why not just develop a horror suited for children? Monster's House did not the foreword 'Goosebumps'.
No comments:
Post a Comment