Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark 2 Update Shared By Director After 3 Years Of Silence-TGN

Summary

• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2 is “alive” with a story and script in development, despite delays caused by the writer’s strike and COVID-19.

• Director André Øvredal’s focus on another project, The Last Voyage of the Demeter, impacted the progress of the horror sequel.

• The sequel’s funding by Paramount, known for blockbuster franchises, indicates their growing interest in the horror genre and their trust in Øvredal and his team.

With the director’s focus on his new Dracula movie complete, director André Øvredal has an enthusiastic update on Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2. Based on Alvin Schwartz’s novels of the same name, the 2019 horror movie centered on a teenage misfit and her friends as they try to learn the mystery behind a local woman with a dark past and affinity for horror stories that come to life. Produced by Guillermo del Toro, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark garnered mostly positive reviews and a modest box office haul, grossing over $104 million against its reported $28 million production budget.

While speaking with IGN to discuss The Last Voyage of the Demeter, André Øvredal was asked about the development of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2. The director assured that the horror sequel is very much “alive” and explained the three-year delay in any proper news about its progress. See what Øvredal shared below:

Will Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark 2’s Wait Pay Off?

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2 was first announced in April 2020, nearly a year after its predecessor hit theaters and left audiences on the cliffhanger of Zoe Colletti’s Stella teaming with her dad, Dean Norris’ Roy, and her friend’s sister, Natalie Ganzhorn’s Ruth, as they sought to find a way to bring back her brother, Chuck, and their other friend, Auggie. With Paramount Pictures now behind the project, the main cast returning along with Øvredal and writers Dan and Kevin Hageman, it seemed likely the sequel would arrive quickly prior to the pandemic’s shutdown of Hollywood.

As Øvredal mentions, his focus from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was pulled to focus on that of The Last Voyage of the Demeter, a movie that similarly languished in development hell for years before he came on board and finally brought the Alien-inspired Dracula adaptation to life. Should the Demeter prove to hold its own at a box office currently dominated by the Barbenheimer craze as well as Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One and newly released Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, it would prove a promising sign of his track record in projects with lengthy developments.

One of the other promising factors after having the same creative team behind Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2 back at the helm is that the sequel is now set to be funded by Paramount. Though better known for producing such blockbuster franchises as Transformers and Mission: Impossible, they have recently broken into the increasingly popular horror sphere thanks to both the revived Scream franchise and 2022’s Smile, which has a sequel in development. Considering horror is one of the most consistently strong performers at the box office, one can hope they put full trust in Øvredal and his team.

Source: IGN