‘Are You Afraid Of The Dark’ Movie May Have Found A Director

After premiering on Nickelodeon in 1991, Are You Afraid of the Dark became the closing act for the network’s Saturday night lineup, a two-hour block of television shows known as Snick. While Snick had a fairly revolving lineup, which included The Secret World of Alex Mack, Roundhouse, Ren & Stimpy, All That, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, and numerous others, Are You Afraid of the Dark stood fixed as Snick’s closing television show from 1991 until 1996. After that, the show experienced a number of hiatuses before eventually fizzling out.

Since the demise of Nickelodeon’s horror show for children, there have been hordes of fans pleading for a revival of Are You Afraid of the Dark. While a new series doesn’t appear to be in the cards, it was recently announced that a feature film based on the original series will be released to theaters across the United States on October 11, 2019.

Details about cast, crew, and a possible plot line for the upcoming movie have been scant, but according to Nightmare On Film Street, Are You Afraid of the Dark may have found its director. Reports are apparently stating that D.J. Caruso, the director of Disturbia and xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, may be taking the wheel on set.

The script was written by Gary Dauberman (IT, The Nun). Thus far no casting announcements have even been rumored.

According to IMDb, the film adaptation of Are You Afraid of the Dark has been in development since 2000, which is approximately 19 years. The only other Nickelodeon movie based off a live-action show to reach theaters was the 1997 movie, Good Burger, which starred Keenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell.

Are You Afraid of the Dark, in its original incarnation, revolved around a group of young kids who met in the woods at night once per week to tell ghost stories around a camp fire. As each episode was ostensibly a different story every time, Are You Afraid of the Dark was considered an anthology series with a small continuous plot that showed up at the very beginning and end of each show.

As for how that will translate to the big screen is anybody’s guess. Many are speculating the movie version of Are You Afraid of the Dark will be an anthology horror film, while others believe it will be a standalone movie. Other questions on the minds of original series fans are whether or not this movie will be genuinely scary or if it will retain its family-friendly atmosphere present in the show’s original run.

Movie-goers can find out on October 11, 2019, when the film officially hits theaters.