Carl Ellsworth to Write Feature Adaptation of R.L. Stine’s GOOSEBUMPS

The fifth grader in me just hit the jackpot.  Screenwriter Carl Ellsworth (Disturbia) has agreed to a deal with Columbia Pictures to write a live-action feature adaptation of the R.L. Stine book series Goosebumps.  Per Risky Business, Neal Moritz will produce (through his Original Film label) the Ellsworth adaptation for Columbia, who hopes to create a potential “family-driven franchise” of live-action films based on the material.  Columbia first purchased the rights to Goosebumps in 2008 and, at that time, writers Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander (1408) tried their hand at adapting the material to no avail.  As for Ellsworth, in addition to Disturbia, his writing credits date all the way back to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series where he penned a single episode.  Recently, he has written films such as Red Eye, The Last House on the Left remake, as well as the upcoming remake of Red Dawn.

For a Goosebumps fun fact as well as my take on the adaptation, hit the jump.

While you probably remember the Goosebumps series as, at the very least, a ghost of your adolescence, what you may not know is that Scholastic has sold over 300 million copies of the series worldwide.  That number makes it second only to some series of books about a boy wizard (hint: it’s Harry Potter) in terms of overall sales for the publisher.

There is no word on whether Ellsworth will adapt a particular title from the series or if he will be doing an original tale.  Personally, I’m hoping for a re-telling of Night of the Living Dummy.  Or how about Say Cheese and Die?  Wait, no, Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes.  Whatever it is, you can bet I’ll be interested.