It’s been seven years since the release of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
The adaption of the classic children’s book series received praise from both critics and fans. Chiefly, Scary Stories was praised for its creative writing, incorporating many elements of the books into a cohesive overall plot.
After becoming a box-office success, talk of a sequel immediately began. According to reports in 2020, a sequel was in development at Paramount Pictures. The majority of the cast was set to return, as were the writers, and director André Øvredal.
As of 2023, the script was being revised.
But ever since then, silence.
But now, we have an update on this long-in-gestation sequel… and sadly, it’s not positive.
According to director André Øvredal, the sequel is not in a good place, as two companies responsible for producing Scary Stories no longer exist:
“What I can say is that it’s been stuck in a bit of a copyright ownership hell with two studios that don’t exist anymore, that produced a movie together, CBS Films and EOne, and they don’t really exist anymore. The rights spread out to two other companies, and then they have to agree to figure it out between them, and that has taken some time. We do have conversations about it once every couple of months, and there is currently some movement, I’m gathering.”
Øvredal concluded:
“It becomes about legal departments and not about creatives, because we have a story that I love that is just ready to go whenever somebody decides, ‘I own the movie, let’s go make it.’”
So, like so many projects in the genre today, it’s all a matter of rights… sigh.
However, whilst the Scary Stories sequel seems stalled, Øvredal will undoubtedly have another hit on his hands with Passenger. So, every cloud has a silver lining, as they say.
