Get ready, spooky season junkies — a ghostly new live-action series is creeping your way.
A fresh take on the beloved ’90s film franchise Casper is coming to Disney+, Deadlinereported on Wednesday, April 29, confirming that a new live-action series will soon bring Casper the Friendly Ghost back to life.
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Steven Spielberg is signed on to executive produce the new series, along with Rob Letterman and Hilary Winston, executive producers of the Disney+ series Goosebumps, who are both set to direct the new live-action project. (Spielberg also executive produced the 1995 film Casper, starring Christina Ricci.)
Casper first originated as animated movies released in the ’40s and ’50s, before later being made into comic books starring and even a few animated TV series. In the ’90s, the titular friendly ghost arrived on the big screen, alongside Ricci and Bill Pullman, while being voiced by Malachi Pearson. 1995’s Casper was followed up by four other films from 1997 to 2006, including a 1998’s Casper Meets Wendy, featuring Hilary Duff.
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According to Deadline, Disney+ landed the new series after a competitive five-way bidding war. While not much is known about the project so far, the outlet reports that it will serve as a “modern update on the classic ghost story.”
It is also expected to have a “dark edge,” similar to Netflix’s Wednesday series’ take on the Addams Family.
And the darker twist isn’t the only similarity that the new Casper series has with Wednesday, as both remakes are based on original ’90s films that starred Christina Ricci. She famously starred as Wednesday Addams in 1991’s The Addams Family, and also played the role of Kathleen “Kat” Harvey in Casper.
Ricci made a triumphant return to the Addams Family universe in Netflix’s Wednesday, though she stepped into a different role from that of Wednesday, who is portrayed by Jenna Ortega.
Fans can only hope that Ricci might reunite with Casper in the upcoming Disney+ project, which does not yet have an official cast or release date.
Related: 1996 Cult Classic Ranked As the ‘Most Rewatched Horror Film’ on Letterboxd
