Most audiences are likely familiar with Ken Marino’s face, but it’s his name that isn’t quite as recognizable. At least, not yet. Despite giving excellent performances on TV in shows like Party Down and Children’s Hospital, and on the big screen in films like the recent, and criminally under-seen Bad Milo, the actor still hasn’t achieved the level of fame that he deserves.
That may all change very shortly though as Deadline is reporting that Sony has cast Marino in their upcoming YA adaptation of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps, which already boasts a cast that includes Jack Black, Amy Ryan and Dylan Minnette. Directed by Rob Letterman, the film will have Marino playing the “blowhard coach” of Greendale High, who “wades into battle when monsters overrun the school.”
While I have fond memories of reading Stine’s novels as a child, I don’t have high hopes for Sony’s adaptation. For one, the last time that Letterman and Black worked together on an adaptation we got Gulliver’s Travels. I’ll let that sink in for a minute.
That aside, YA adaptations rarely turn out well and though this isn’t just another dystopian future set story, led by a fearless heroine, I’m worried that it’s going to shy away too much from the scares and instead rely on Black’s goofy and quite frankly, grating sense of humor.
Goosebumps will open in theatres on March 23rd, 2016. Tell us, are you looking forward to this adaptation? Sound off below!