Fear Street director wants MCU-style horror universe inspired by R.L. Stine
Could the horror world get a new franchise based on the work of R.L. Stine? Fear Street director Leigh Janiak seems to think so. She talked with IndieWire about the many possibilities that could spin out of the newest horror trilogy on Netflix.
“One of the exciting things about Fear Street is the fact that the universe is big and allows for a lot of space,” Janiak said. “One of the things I talked about before I was hired was that we have a potential here to create a horror Marvel [Cinematic Universe], where you can have slasher killers from lots of different eras. You have the canon of our main mythology that’s built around the fact that the devil lives in Shadyside, so there’s also room for everything else.”
Working with Netflix makes the development of a new horror franchise even more plausible, because the streamer is actively looking for properties it can turn into large franchises that compete with stuff from Disney and others.
R.L. Stine universe could find a home on Netflix
Janiak has been thinking of the possibilities for an expansive universe from the start but she knows that everything rests on the success of the Fear Street trilogy.
“I think my hope is that audiences like it enough that we can start building out [more], we can think about what another trilogy would be, what stand-alones would be, what TV would be,” she said. “I don’t even think about it like TV or movies exactly anymore. That’s the great thing about Netflix and about what Fear Street is, which is kind of a hybrid new thing. I’m excited about the possibility of what else can happen.”
Janiak’s forward thinking is exactly what’s needed in today’s entertainment landscape. Instead of thinking about one movie, or a trilogy, it’s important to think about the property and how to bring it to life beyond the one movie.
As a horror enthusiast herself, Janiak would love to work in the 1950s. “It’s just cool to think about the different eras and what’s possible as a horror fan.”
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