Aug 17, 2008 by Courtney O.

Writing Duo to Adapt Goosebumps

Writing duo Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander are in talks to write the live-action big-screen adaptation of the children's horror book series Goosebumps for Columbia Pictures.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, straight-to-video versions of the R.L. Stine book series have been made before, but this project will mark the first feature adaptation of the series and could also become a franchise for Columbia, which acquired the rights in May.

The Goosebumps series -- which comprises more than 50 books that often pay homage to classic sci-fi/horror movies such as Night of the Living Dead and Invasion of the Body Snatchers as well as the twist endings of The Twilight Zone -- have grossed hundreds of millions for Stine and Scholastic, second only to the Harry Potter series. Stine recently published a new 12-book series, "Goosebumps in HorrorLand," and Scholastic plans to launch a video game in the fall.

Moritz has said he likely will cast youngsters for the leads and then include well-known actors in supporting roles, a la the Harry Potter films.

Karaszewski and Alexander are best known for their penmanship on Ed Wood, Man on the Moon and The People vs. Larry Flynt, the latter of which earned them a Golden Globe.

No production date has been set.


Sources: The Hollywood Reporter

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Comments (23)

  1. The Dark Knight

    aw cool

    3 years agoby @thedarkknight23Flag

  2. mugoh

    ok Karaszewski and Alexander!i've no say on this,just hopin u know wtf ur doin.carry on fellas!

    3 years agoby @mugohFlag

  3. Soylent Green:The Devil's Eyes

    F*cking loved this show. This will be good if handled correctly

    3 years agoby @jcisawesomeFlag

  4. Phil Mata

    Karaszewski and Alexander are gonna have quite a challenge pulling this off. Sure, Goosebumps frightened kids back in the '90s, but it was a generation of conspiracies and mythology. This is also why the X-Files was such a huge cult program. Stine and Carter were two of the biggest pioneers of paranoia fiction a decade ago. Don't get me wrong, not that these two sci-fi entities aren't great (they are), however, they would not be as big a commercial and critical success if they were to emerge in the new millennium. Let's be honest about that. It's really hard scaring kid's these days anyway. This on-screen adaptation would have to be a PG-13 with a fresh storyline, mytharc, and method of scare tactics in order to stay relevant with the franchise and be kept up to the date in succession. Good luck guys! I'll be pullin' for ya.

    3 years agoby @phil-mataFlag

  5. Diaigma

    The TV show never really took off anyway.

    If the studios are running out of book series to make movies out of, they should seek the rights for Mistborn. Not only is that an awesome series, but I can totally see Chris Nolan directing it. The setting screams his style. That's wishful thinking though.

    Liked the books...the only favorite TV episode was the Fever Swamp one...a movie of this would be hard to pull off I think.

    3 years agoby @diaigmaFlag

  6. Flrep07

    dude, the shows about the Puppet were f*cking freaky man! weird as hell.

    3 years agoby @flrep07Flag

  7. brew1701

    ohh i loved these books as a kid there was a show too, i hope they do it anthology style, like several stories in the one movie

    3 years agoby @brew1701Flag

  8. Radimus-83

    CRAP!!! hated the books, hated the T.V show... so i'm pretty sure this will suck! although i'll give it a chance, but then i'm just gonna hate it anyways.

    3 years agoby @radimus-83Flag

  9. MikeyV1

    cool i wonder which story they will pick from the books or will it be a whole new story? i just hope we are not too old to see this lol. "good times indeed :)"

    3 years agoby @mikeyv1Flag

  10. CDT1013

    I remember reading those when I was a little kid.

    3 years agoby @jmt1000000Flag

  11. T.Clark

    Yeah, it says in the article they've already been made cell

    Neways, i came on here expecting to see people bashing this idea, but it's nice to see so many people loved these as a kid as much as i did...damn, this makes me wanna get em out and sort the hell outta them lmao

    3 years agoby @insertusernamehereFlag

  12. CelluloidDreams

    I thought "Goosebumps" was already made into direct to DVD movies!?? I remember when "Goosebumps" came out in late of 1992...Right after I graduated High School, but still "Goosebumps" was huge! ...It was all over the place..."Goosebumps" was more for children aged twelve and under.

    ALl I remeber is that "Goosebumps" wasa on backpacks, stickers, spawned several spinoffs, and 2 board games!

    INTERESTING SIDE NOTE:

    The "Goosebumps" series was often challenged in American libraries for their sometimes-violent content; the novels were fifteenth on the American Library Association's list of most frequently challenged books from 1990 to 1999.

    3 years agoby @2movieguysFlag

  13. Nyfresh

    i could imagine that there gonna do a twist like leonardo dicaprios Twilight Zone becuase Goosebumps has to much good stories so i dont think there gonna use just one but i really hope they do this right, this movie has so much potential and i think that they should make this movie for all the fans out there or atleast for ppl like us who used to read and watch the goosebump series, i just pray they do this right, i havent been so excited for a movie since i herd Transformers 2 was gonna come out.

    note to Hollywood - PLEASE DONT F*CK THIS ONE UP, PLEASE

    3 years agoby @leo16Flag

  14. JonSpidey07

    oh nice
    i was wondering for a loooong time when Goosebumps was gonna get an upgrade
    it was one of the great hits of the 90's as books and as a TV series
    the 1st two computer games were great as well
    but what story are they going to do?

    3 years agoby @jonspidey07Flag

  15. Nyfresh

    I wonder if there gonna make a Pokemon movie in 10 years and everyone is gonna b like WOW (coupld u imaginea live action pokemon moive) lol sorry just another trip down memory lane

    3 years agoby @leo16Flag

  16. Nyfresh

    Memory lane i hear u vamp, now Gargoyles was a very cool Cartoon and i havent seen a episode or Goosebump or Gargoyles in years, like 10 years so thanx for that one

    3 years agoby @leo16Flag

  17. deeman138

    I wondered when they were going to start making these into a movie.

    3 years agoby @deeman138Flag

  18. Phatlightning

    nice.. god damn, I have like 25 goosebump books.. I need more apparently.

    3 years agoby @sxers2k1Flag

  19. Vamp

    Goosebumps?! Wow, it's a trip down memory lane for me today. First Voltron, now Goosebumps. What's next, Gargoyles? The people who did The People Vs. Larry Flynt too, that was a great movie. This'll be a good one, I'm sure.

    3 years agoby @vampire2000Flag

  20. Nyfresh

    lol i remember that one, not the book but the tv show, very cool, damn i wish i could download some episodes, wow so much memories, do ya remember the one about the halloween mask that i dont remember if it was a boy or girl they put on the mask and the start turnin into a monster??? dont really remember to much but that one was creppy

    3 years agoby @leo16Flag

  21. ...YeahButTheBookWasBetter

    Hell yeah, the one about that werewolves at camp, actually made me jump when i was younger

    3 years agoby @theboywhocriedsequelFlag

  22. Nyfresh

    wow this is so cool, i grew up with those books, like the first book i ever read was a goosebumps book (i was like 8 or 9 the most) plus i used to love the tv show, damn i havent even thought about goosebumps in year till right now, this is def a good idea and im gonna b watchin this openin weekend and i dont care if im to old for it now im still goin to see it lol

    3 years agoby @leo16Flag

  23. T.Clark

    Awesome! I have nearly every book of the series...and i haven't even read them! ha! I've stopped getting them for a while but they were great when i was a kid

    3 years agoby @insertusernamehereFlag

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