Netflix has acquiredLeigh Janiak’sFear Streettrilogy and plans to release the three interconnected films one month apart from each other as part of a themed programming initiative the streamer is calling “The Summer of Fear” according toDeadline, which broke the news.
TheFear Streetmovies were part of an ambitious plan originally hatched by 20th Century Fox and Chernin Entertainment that would draw on the popularity ofR.L. Stine’s beloved book series, which is much scarier than the author’s younger-skewingGoosebumpsbooks. In fact, I’m currently typing this story on a desk covered inFear Streetbooks –Sunburn,Party SummerandThe Dead Lifeguard– as I’d planned to write a horror movie set at the beach during this pandemic, to no avail.
Anyway, Fox got acquired by Disney, and suddenly, release dates became hard to come by. Once theaters closed due to the pandemic, it created an even bigger logjam on the release calendar.Fear Streetskews too old for Disney’s family-friendly Disney+ service, and while I think these movies might’ve thrived on Hulu, where audiences have embraced Blumhouse’sInto the Darkand genre shows likeLight as a Feather, I understand why Netflix and its deep pockets may have represented the best path forward for everyone.
This way, Janiak and the team at Chernin ensure the greatest number of eyeballs on their genre trilogy, whichFear Streetfans such as myself have been waiting for for 25 years. Janiak has already wrapped all three films, which featureGillian Jacobs,Ashley Zukerman,Sadie Sink,Kiana Madeira,Charlene Amoia,Ryan SimpkinsandFred Hechinger. Sink is one of the young stars of Netflix’sStranger Things, which gives the streamer an added marketing hook.
I would’ve loved to have seen theFear Streetmovies released one week after another this October, but I assume Netflix already assigned those release dates to other genre films and understand why the streamer would want to wait until next summer to make an event of the trilogy’s release. My hopes aren’t exactly high – I wasn’t a fan of Janiak’s debut film, among other reasons – but you’re able to best believe that deep down in this fanboy’s cold, dark heart, I’ll be rooting for this one to succeed like few other projects I write about it.
In the meantime, while we wait for it to be next summer for so many reasons,click herefor our list of the best horror movies you can watch on Netflix right now.
