Rebooting or adapting 1980s television and movies is hot business right now, from Child’s Play to the troubled Lost Boys series, as well as a new prequel for Gremlins. One property that didn’t get the green light though is The Monster Squad, as it’s been revealed that a planned TV adaptation of the 1987 movie couldn’t get off the ground at Paramount. According to original director Fred Dekker, the studio were interested in reviving the much-loved film, but development was limited.
Dekker spoke to Moviefone about why The Monster Squad series didn’t happen, commenting as so:
“I’ll be completely honest, Shane Black and I have both been approached about adapting The Monster Squad for television. Was it my first choice? No. But I’m a big fan now of long form television. And figuring out a way to take Monster Squad and turn it into a long form series was very exciting to me.”
It seems the main reason for not pursuing the project was the success of Stranger Things, ironic for Dekker given the Netflix series shares traits with their movie. For those not in the know, The Monster Squad sees a group of children take on Count Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Mummy, the Wolfman, and the Gillman to prevent them from obtaining a rare amulet.
Dekker explains that, when talking to Paramount, he asked:
“Let me just clarify — you guys want us to do a rip off of a rip off of us?’ And they all sort of laughed. But that’s basically what it came down to.”
Apparently, Dekker and Black also considered a sequel following the children of The Monster Squad as adults, before realizing that they were straying into It: Chapter Two territory. While this doesn’t mean that a remake or adaptation of the 1987 movie is out of the question, it seems that Dekker and Black are still waiting for the right idea to justify it. In the meantime, we can be happy with plenty of other 1980s favorites making a comeback.
