Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark sequel is still in development, director confirms

Nearly three and a half years have gone by since it was announced that director André Øvredal and producer Guillermo del Toro were re-teaming for a sequel to their cinematic adaptation of Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series of books… but don’t let the extended silence stir up any fears that Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2 has been cancelled. While speaking with IGN, Øvredal – whose Dracula movie The Last Voyage of the Demeter reaches theatres on August 11th – confirmed that the sequel is still in development!

Øvredal said, “We have a story. We have a script. We’ve been working on the script as late as last year and even slightly into this year. The process obviously stopped with the strike – but it’s alive, for sure. COVID and then [The Last Voyage of the Demeter] eating up two years of my life certainly put a dent in the progress.“

So it sounds like they’ll be getting back to work on Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2 once the writers strike has come to an end. We previously heard that the screenplay was being written by the first film’s writers Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman, working from a story crafted by del Toro. Details on the plot, and what elements the sequel will be lifting from Schwartz’s books, have never been revealed.

While the first film was financed by eOne and CBS Films, with Lionsgate distributing, on this one eOne is partnering with Paramount Pictures. The first Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was a box office hit, earning just under $106 million worldwide on a budget of $25 million. The film had the following synopsis: It’s 1968 in America. Change is blowing in the wind…but seemingly far removed from the unrest in the cities is the small town of Mill Valley where for generations, the shadow of the Bellows family has loomed large. It is in their mansion on the edge of town that Sarah, a young girl with horrible secrets, turned her tortured life into a series of scary stories, written in a book that has transcended time—stories that have a way of becoming all too real for a group of teenagers who discover Sarah’s terrifying home.

It starred Zoe Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush, Austin Abrams, Dean Norris, Gil Bellows, Lorraine Toussaint, Austin Zajur, and Natalie Ganzhorn.

Are you a fan of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and are you glad to hear that Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2 is still in the works? Let us know by leaving a comment below.