Okay, that’s Slappy, not Justin Long.
There are perhaps few better examples of entrance horror than Goosebumps, the best-selling book series by author RL Stine. Disney knows this and is wisely bringing Stine’s work to the small screen once again in the form of a new live-action series being developed for Disney+. In the first casting news we’ve heard so far, none other than Justin Long has signed on for a role on the show.
According to Variety, Long will play Nathan Bratt. So who is this, exactly? Bratt is “the new school teacher who develops a terrifying connection to a supernatural murder from decades ago.” The show is said to be influenced by five of the world’s most popular books. Goosebumps series, although the specific books have yet to be named. A synopsis of the show reads as follows:
“The series follows a group of five high school students who unleash supernatural forces on their town and must work together, thanks to and despite their friendships, rivalries and pasts with each other, to save it, learning much about their own. the teenage secrets of the parents in the process”.
Long has had an impressive and varied career, starring in everything from comedies like Accepted a Live free or die hard. But he is no stranger to genre filmmaking, as he appeared in Kevin Smith’s deranged body horror flick. Canine (which is getting a sequel!) and, most recently, the box office hit Barbarianwhich also came from Disney’s 20th Century Studios.
As for the creative team, Nick Stoller (The Muppets Most Wanted) and Rob Letterman (monsters vs aliens) serve as co-creators and executive producers. Kevin Murphy is on board as showrunner and will also executive produce. Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Conor Welch, Erin O’Malley, Iole Lucchese and Caitlin Friedman also executive produce, with Julia Ruchman, James Eagan and Nick Adams on board as co-executive producers and writers. Interestingly, both Letterman and Moritz are linked to the recent live action. Goosebumps movies, with Letterman directing the 2015 big-screen hit and Moritz producing.
This will be the second time Stine’s work has been used to power a live-action television show. Shortly after the first books hit shelves in 1992, a TV show that used an anthology format aired from 1996 to 1998. But there are plenty more books (240 to be exact) for Disney to use as fuel for this new company.
the Goosebumps The series does not yet have a set release date.