The Goosebumps books have been bestsellers for years. Their journey to the big screen has taken a surprisingly long time. Given their success and built-in audience that spans generations at this point, it’s hard to believe that R.L. Stine’s monsters haven’t gotten the movie treatment before. But, when you think about it, which book to make first and how to tackle the challenge of bringing his literary monstrous world to life is a huge road block.
Lucky for them, director Rob Letterman has a fantastic idea. Why not bring all of Stine’s monsters from his kiddie horror books to life in one movie? Why not have Stine himself be the main character in this movie? And why not cast Jack Black as the legendary writer?!
As you can see from the latest Goosebumps TV spot, all these ideas are strokes of genius. Black plays Stine and he has become a recluse trying to raise his teenage daughter as a single father. When a teenage boy moves next door, things get complicated. When he comes over and becomes friends with the young Stine, somehow… the author’s monsters leap out of their books and terrorize their small town.
Black is joined in the cast by Amy Ryan, Ken Marino, Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush, Ryan Lee and Jillian Bell.
Goosebumps lands in theaters in time for Halloween on October 16.