Development In the mid-1990s,
George A. Romero wrote a script for a film adaptation of the first original
Goosebumps book
Welcome to Dead House. It was rejected and was then kept at
The University of Pittsburgh. The popularity of the
Fox Kids'
Goosebumps television series generated an interest among fans for a full-feature film based upon the show. In 1998,
Tim Burton was attached to direct a
Goosebumps film for
20th Century Fox.
Chris Meledandri, the president of
Fox Family Films at the time, said, "I think you'll see us tackling a scale of story that would be prohibitive to do on the small screen". However, the film did not materialize since they could not find a script they liked or determine which book to adapt into a film. In 2008,
Columbia Pictures acquired rights to create a
Goosebumps film.
Neal Moritz and
Deborah Forte, the latter of whom had previously worked on the
Goosebumps television series in the 1990s, were chosen to produce the film. Screenwriting team
Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski were hired as screenwriters, and wrote the original script for the film. The duo decided against adapting any one book in the series, feeling the individual books in the series were too short. Thinking of ways to create a universe where all the creatures in the books could live together, they elected to do a fake
biographical film where R. L. Stine writes a book and the monsters within it become real. In 2010,
Carl Ellsworth was chosen to write the screenplay. On January 14, 2012, it was reported that a new draft of the screenplay would be written by Darren Lemke; Lemke co-wrote the screenplays for
Shrek Forever After and
Bryan Singer's
Jack the Giant Slayer. In November 2012, Stine expressed pessimism about the prospect of the film, saying that he would believe that a film can be based on his
Goosebumps series when he sees it. The screenplay was rated PG-13. He also mentioned
Where the Wild Things Are being adapted into a film almost 50 years after publication.
Casting "fighting" Slappy and his fellow monsters at the 2014
San Diego Comic-Con. , who previously worked together on
Shark Tale and ''
Gulliver's Travels'' In September 2013, it was reported that
Jack Black was in talks to "play a Stine-like author whose scary characters literally leap off the page, forcing him to hide from his own creepy creations". Black stated that he tried to make the character "more of a sort of curmudgeonly dark, brooding beast master". He also said that he attempted to approach this film the same way he does others, trying to "make it as funny as possible". Black met with R. L. Stine to get his consent for the film, but determined that his character could not be too similar to the real one; Black explained that he needed the character to be more sinister.
Rob Letterman was chosen as the director, reuniting him with Black, after working together on
Shark Tale and ''
Gulliver's Travels''. and
Odeya Rush as the Stine-like author's daughter, Hannah. On February 26, 2014, it was announced that the film would be released on March 23, 2016. On April 4, 2014, it was announced that
Amy Ryan and
Jillian Bell had joined the cast as Cooper's mother and aunt respectively. On April 10, 2014,
Ken Marino joined the cast as Coach Carr. On April 28, 2014,
Halston Sage joined the cast. On May 1, 2014, the film's release date was moved up to August 7, 2015. Stine stated on May 20, 2014, that he was going to make a
cameo appearance in the film. Some monsters due for an appearance in the film were cut for budgetary reasons, but Letterman stated that the crew tried to choose the monsters most appropriate to the story. Letterman also stated that he tried to combine both humor and horror in the film, commenting that "[t]he books themselves are legitimately scary, but they're legitimately funny, and we try to capture that". In January 2015, the release date was pushed forward to October 16, 2015.
Filming In mid-April 2014, a crew of six spent three days gathering visual data for the film in downtown
Madison,
Georgia. The crew used a
theodolite to collect points in three-dimensional space to complete a detailed survey of the city. The visual data was used to create a
CGI background of the downtown. Neal Moritz and Rob Letterman stated that Madison was their first choice for the film after scouting the city.
Principal photography on the film began on April 23, 2014, in
Candler Park in
Atlanta, notably at 345 (Zach's house) and 337 (R.L.Stine's house) Mell Avenue NE; they were also set to shoot the film in
Conyers and Madison. with 480
Goosebumps crew members working in Madison and
Morgan County. A stretch of Dawsonville Highway in Georgia was intermittently closed to film a car travelling up and down multiple bridges for the film. ==Music and soundtrack==