Goosebumps (film)

In the mid 1990's, George A. Romero wrote a script for a film adaptation of the first original Goosebumps book Welcome to Dead House. It was rejected and was then kept at The University of Pittsburgh.[20]

The popularity of the Fox Kids' Goosebumps television series generated an interest among fans for a full-feature film based upon the show. In 1998, Tim Burton was attached to direct a Goosebumps film for 20th Century Fox. Chris Meledandri, the president of Fox Family Films at the time, said, "I think you'll see us tackling a scale of story that would be prohibitive to do on the small screen".[21] However, the film did not materialize since they could not find a script they liked or determine which book to adapt into a film.[22]

In 2008, Columbia Pictures acquired rights to create a Goosebumps film.[23] Neal Moritz and Deborah Forte, the latter of whom had previously worked on the Goosebumps television series in the 1990s, were chosen to produce the film.[24] Screenwriting team Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski were hired as screenwriters,[25] and wrote the original script for the film. The duo decided against adapting any one book in the series, feeling the individual books in the series were too short. Thinking of ways to create a universe where all the creatures in the books could live together, they elected to do a fake biographical film where R. L. Stine writes a book and the monsters within it become real.[26] In 2010, Carl Ellsworth was chosen to write the screenplay.[27] On January 14, 2012, it was reported that a new draft of the screenplay would be written by Darren Lemke; Lemke co-wrote the screenplays for Shrek Forever After and Bryan Singer's Jack the Giant Slayer.[28] In November 2012, Stine expressed pessimism about the prospect of the film, saying that he would believe that a film can be based on his Goosebumps series when he sees it. The screenplay was rated PG-13. He also mentioned Where the Wild Things Are being adapted into a film almost 50 years after publication.[29]

Jack Black "fighting" Slappy and his fellow monsters at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International.

The film marks the third collaboration between Jack Black and director Rob Letterman, who previously worked together on Shark Tale and Gulliver's Travels

In September 2013, it was reported that Jack Black was in talks to "play a Stine-like author whose scary characters literally leap off the page, forcing him to hide from his own creepy creations".[30] Black stated that he tried to make the character "more of a sort of curmudgeonly dark, brooding beast master". He also said that he attempted to approach this film the same way he does others, trying to "make it as funny as possible".[31] Black met with R. L. Stine to get his consent for the film, but determined that his character could not be too similar to the real one; Black explained that he needed the character to be more sinister.[32] Rob Letterman was chosen as the director, reuniting him with Black, after working together on Shark Tale and Gulliver's Travels.[30]

It was announced in February 2014 that Dylan Minnette had been cast as Zach Cooper,[33] and Odeya Rush as the Stine-like author's daughter, Hannah.[7] On February 26, 2014, it was announced that the film would be released on March 23, 2016.[34][35] On April 4, 2014, it was announced that Amy Ryan and Jillian Bell had joined the cast as Cooper's mother and aunt respectively.[13] On April 10, 2014, Ken Marino joined the cast as Coach Carr.[17] On April 28, 2014, Halston Sage joined the cast.[14] On May 1, 2014, the film's release date was moved up to August 7, 2015.[36] Stine stated on May 20, 2014, that he was going to make a cameo appearance in the film.[19]

The film was promoted at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International where Jack Black and Rob Letterstein interacted with Slappy the Dummy. Slappy even brought some of his "friends" out consisting of the Bog Monster from How to Kill a Monster, two Graveyard Ghouls from Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls, Cronby the Troll and a Mulgani from Deep in the Jungle of Doom, the Lord High Executioner from A Night in Terror Tower, Murder the Clown from A Nightmare on Clown Street, the Mummy of Prince Khor-Ru from Return of the Mummy, Captain Long Ben One-Leg from Creep from the Deep, Professor Shock from The Creepy Creations of Professor Shock, Count Nightwing from Vampire Breath, a Creep from Calling All Creeps!, a Body Squeezer from Invasion of the Body Squeezers: Part 1 and Part 2, Carly Beth Caldwell's Haunted Mask form from The Haunted Mask, a Scarecrow from The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, and a Pumpkin Head from Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns. When Jack Black tells Slappy that it is him that Slappy wants, Slappy instructs the Lord High Executioner, Murder the Clown, and Professor Shock to take Jack Black outside to his car. As the monsters leave, Slappy tells Rob some of his pitches causing Rob to leave as well.[37][38]

Some monsters due for an appearance in the film were cut for budgetary reasons, but Letterman stated that the crew tried to choose the monsters most appropriate to the story. Letterman also stated that he tried to combine both humor and horror in the film, commenting that "[t]he books themselves are legitimately scary, but they're legitimately funny, and we try to capture that".[32] In November 2014, the release date was moved back to April 15, 2016.[39] In January 2015, the release date was pushed forward to October 16, 2015.[40][41]

In mid-April 2014, a crew of six spent three days gathering visual data for the film in downtown Madison, Georgia. The crew used a theodolite to collect points in three-dimensional space to complete a detailed survey of the city. The visual data was used to create a CGI background of the downtown.[42] Neal Moritz and Rob Letterman stated that Madison was their first choice for the film after scouting the city.[43] Principal photography on the film began on April 23, 2014, in Candler Park in Atlanta;[44] they were also set to shoot the film in Conyers and Madison.[7] On May 19, filming was taking place in the streets of Madison,[45] with 480 Goosebumps crew members working in Madison and Morgan County.[43] Principal photography ended on July 16, 2014.[46] A stretch of Dawsonville Highway in Georgia was intermittently closed to film a car travelling up and down multiple bridges for the film.[47]

Goosebumps had its world premiere screening on June 24, 2015, at the CineEurope film distributors' trade fair in Barcelona, Spain, where the film was presented by Black on stage.[2]

Goosebumps was released on Blu-ray (2D and 3D) and DVD on January 5, 2016, and includes deleted scenes, a blooper reel, interviews with the cast and crew, an alternate opening, an alternate ending, and a featurette about Slappy.

Goosebumps grossed $80.1 million in North America and $70.1 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $150.2 million, against a budget of $58 million.[5]

In the United States and Canada, pre-release trackings indicated the film would open to between $20–31 million at 3,501 theaters. However, Sony was more conservative, and projected the film to take between $12–15 million.[49][50][51] The film opened on October 16, 2015, alongside Bridge of Spies, Crimson Peak, and Woodlawn, however box office pundits noted that it did not face serious competition except for The Martian, which was entering its third week.[6] It made $600,000 from its early Thursday night screenings at 2,567 theaters, and $7.4 million on its opening day.[52][53] In its opening weekend the film grossed $23.5 million, beating studio projections and finishing first at the box office. It marked the fourth Sony film to reign at the top of the box office during the fall. Previously the studio scored No. 1 spots over the last seven weeks with War Room, The Perfect Guy and Hotel Transylvania 2.[54][55] Families represented the largest demographics with 60%, followed by under 25 with 59% and male/female ratio was split evenly at 50/50.[54]

Outside North America, Goosebumps was released in a total of 66 countries.[56] Mexico has so far represented its largest opening as well as the biggest market in terms of total earnings with $7.1 million followed by Australia ($6.3 million) and the United Kingdom and Ireland ($6 million).[56][57] It opened at No. 1 in the United Kingdom and Ireland ($3.9 million). In the United Kingdom, preview takings helped Goosebumps top the box office ahead of the more heavily hyped Dad's Army.[58] In Russia, it opened at No. 2 behind In the Heart of the Sea with $1.27 million.[59] Furthermore, it opened in France with $1 million.[57]

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 78% based on 161 reviews, with an average rating of 6.38/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Goosebumps boasts more than enough of its spooky source material's kid-friendly charm to make up for some slightly scattershot humor and a hurried pace."[60] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 60 out of 100 based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[61] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[62]

Kevin P. Sullivan of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B rating, citing at the end of his review: "Nothing about Goosebumps is revolutionary—at a certain point you may realize that it's as if Nickelodeon produced Cabin in the Woods—but it's a never-boring trip to a world, where stories and imagination are powerful tools, that just might inspire kids to do the scariest thing of all: pick up a book".[63]

Geoff Berkshire of Variety wrote: "The ADD overload combined with an understandably kid-friendly approach to horror (no one’s ever in real danger, and the monsters are never too scary) results in a disposable product intended to appeal to everyone but likely to resonate with no one."[64]