Just when you thought it was safe to go back to summer camp… DreamWorks is currently in the middle of striking a deal to develop a horror-thriller comedy entitled CROPSEY, based on the classic camp legend of the New York area. Although it is officially unrelated, that would make it a quasi-remake of the classic 1981 slasher THE BURNING, which featured Cropsey mowing down a crop of teens (including a young Fisher Stevens, Holly Hunter, and Jason Alexander with hair!) in revenge for a prank gone wrong.
Cropsey was also originally the subject of the 1982 slashfest MADMAN, though due to its close proximity to THE BURNING, they changed the name of their villain to the now cult classic Madman Marz. That's some great DNA for a horror-comedy. And who knows? Jason Alexander has left behind his horror career, but maybe a comedy is just the thing to entice him back into the grip of the Cropsey killer.
CROPSEY will center on a group of adolescents at a summer camp haunted by an urban legend that dates back to the Colonial Period. DreamWorks is developing the story as an Amblin-esque project mixing horror and humor — a la GREMLINS and THE GOONIES.
CROPSEY is based on a pitch by Richard Naing and Ian Goldberg (THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE), who will also pen the screenplay.