D.J. Caruso is in talks to direct Paramount Pictures’ feature film adaptation of Are You Afraid of the Dark?. The original television series ran on Nickelodeon for an entire decade, spanning seven seasons and a total of 91 episodes. The TV show revolved around a group of kids called The Midnight Society, who would gather in the woods each week to tell ghost stories. It has been almost 19 years since the show was last on the air, but Paramount is set to spook a new generation of kids with their movie.
Paramount revealed their plans to make an Are You Afraid of the Dark? movie back in 2017, and that same year they announced the film would be released in 2019. Even though the movie will still have the same basic setup as the popular TV show, it won’t adapt any storylines or villains from the Are You Afraid of the Dark? TV series and will rely on a completely new story. Gary Dauberman, the writer behind popular horror movies such as IT, The Nun, and the Annabelle movies, has been hard at work writing the screenplay for the movie, but now it appears Paramount might be nearing a decision on a director.
According to Bloody Disgusting, Paramount is close to hiring D.J. Caruso as the director for Are You Afraid of the Dark?. While Caruso is thought to be in talks to direct the film adaptation of the Nickelodeon horror anthology series, he has not yet signed on for the project. Caruso is most known for directing movies like Disturbia, Eagle Eye, I am Number Four, and xXx: Return of Xander Cage.
Although Are You Afraid of the Dark? may be one ’90s show that is being remade in 2019, it is hardly the only one. Rugrats for example, is being rebooted for not only a Nickelodeon TV show, but a live-action movie as well. Nickelodeon also announced that Rocko’s Modern Life would be returning to the network with a TV movie, as well as Invader Zim, which will likely be getting its TV movie in 2019. The game show Double Dare will also be getting a revival in 2019, with Nickelodeon ordering a 40-episode series revival.
Even though there hasn’t been a lot of news regarding Are You Afraid of the Dark?, it is a good sign that Paramount seems to be close to hiring a director. Since the adaptation is set to hit theaters in less than a year, the film needed a director so that the project could start casting and eventually start shooting. While fans will have to wait a little longer to see the new version of Are You Afraid of the Dark?, the original show and many other ’90s Nickelodeon shows can be streamed on NickSplat right now.
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Source: Bloody Disgusting
