You didn’t think Sony Pictures would sit back and let Michael Myers have all the fun now, did you?
With Universal’s Halloween reboot already scheduled for October, Sony has conjured up the spectacular first trailer for Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, the Ari Sandel-directed sequel that hopes to mine inspiration from genre heavyweights like It and Netflix phenom Stranger Things.
It’s much lighter in tone, of course – this is one of R.L. Stine’s stories after all – while Haunted Halloween ditches Jack Black’s rendition of the world-famous horror author for a more kid-centric story. And we certainly can’t forget about Slappy (also voiced by Black), who appears to have brought some friends for this year’s spooky spectacular. Long story short: he’s a living ventriloquist dummy from the “Night of the Living Dummy,” and is pictured front and center on the sequel’s official artwork.
Casting-wise, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween has plucked the likes of Ken Jeong (Crazy Rich Asians), Wendi Mclendon-Covey (Bridesmaids) and Chris Parnell, while also using its finest pumpkin knife to carve out room for Madison Iseman, Ben O’Brien, Caleel Harris and Jeremy Ray Taylor of It fame. Spoilers: the latter child actor will be returning for New Line’s Chapter Two as well, which sees the Losers Club band together as adults.
And to ensure Haunted Halloween still maintains some sort of connection with Sony’s 2015 sleeper hit ($150M), Dylan Minnette, Ryan Lee and Odeya Rush are expected to reprise their respective roles.
Trick or treat? With Sony and Ari Sandel’s Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, we’re quietly confident it’s the latter. Either way, though, all will be revealed on October 12th.
