Columbia Pictures is banking on Jack Black to launch its next kiddie franchise in this fall’s Goosebumps, and so while the actor was appearing on Good Morning America today, he took the opportunity to tease some footage from the effects-heavy flick.
Takeaways? This is a silly popcorn affair through and through, bereft of any of the actual scares R.L. Stine’s bestselling novels occasionally contained. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially because the visual effects look appropriately great, and the pic will likely be more noteworthy in that it’s launching the careers of Dylan Minnette and Odeya Rush, two talented actors who haven’t quite hit the big time yet.
Goosebumps‘ plot is pretty simple – a reclusive author (Black) writes books about monsters, which the new neighborhood boy (Minnette) accidentally sets free one day, leading him to band together with the author and his daughter (Rush) to try to capture and contain them. It’s basically Jumanji with a Yeti, and the kids are probably going to eat it up. Though Stine’s readers may lament the lack of anything legitimately blood-curdling, we knew this one was going to strike a lighter tone as soon as Black got involved, so nothing in the trailer comes as much of a surprise.
Goosebumps opens October 16.
