New ‘Goosebumps 2’ Writer Hired, Jack Black May Not Return
Goosebumpsmay not have been the best family horror film, but it was surprisingly fun, and apparently a big enough hit to warrant a sequel. Sony has just hired a new writer to pen the latest adventure set in the wild world of R.L. Stine, but the new script comes with a caveat:Jack Black, star of the firstGoosebumps, may not be returning forGoosebumps 2. The latest treatment from the newGoosebumps 2writer does not include a part for Black’s take on R.L. Stine.Varietyreports thatRob Lieber, a writer onThe Goldbergs, has been tapped to penGoosebumps 2. Variety also reports that Leiber’s script is actually one of several that Sony is considering using, because that’s how movies get made now, folks. One interesting tidbit bout Lieber’s script treatment: it doesn’t feature Jack Black’s R.L. Stine. Sony has no deal in place to bring Black back, which means this sequel is definitely going in a much different direction than the first. Honestly, that’s fine. As surprisingly fun as the firstGoosebumpsfilm may have been, Black’s work in it wasn’t exactly memorable.
R.L. Stine has written approximately ten gazillionGoosebumpsbooks. I know because I read them all when I was growing up. They were quick reads that you could burn through in an hour, forcing your parents to then buy you another one, and another, and another. It was a brilliant marketing scheme, and you can turn up your nose at Stine’s pulpy horror books all you want, but you have to give them this: they got kids to read. These books were prevelant in the days beforeHarry Pottermade reading funadmental again. At the time, at least as I remember it, kids my age loved to utter nightmarish phrases like, “Readingsucks!” R.L. Stine’s books changed that, at least a little.
DespiteGoosebump’s popularity, it took a long time to bring the books to the screen. TheGoosebumpsmovie finally hit theaters in 2015, starring Jack Black as a fictional version of R.L. Stine. In the film, Stine’s books have the power to come to life; it’s sort of likeLast Action Herofeaturing an evil ventriloquist dummy. The film wasn’t what I’d call great, but it was surprisingly entertaining, and kind of funny.
Goosebumps 2isn’t the only R.L. Stine adaptation currently in the works. Fox is currently developing a trilogy based on the author’sFear Streetseries, with scripts byHoneymoondirector Leigh Janiak. TheFear Streetbooks were likeGoosebumpsfor slightly older kids, so you probably shouldn’t expect Jack Black’s R.L. Stine to show up and bumble through those movies. Meanwhile, look forGoosebumps 2to hit theaters onSeptember 21, 2018.
