Screenwriting pair gets Goosebumps
Writing duo Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander are in negotiations to write the live-action big-screen adaptation of the children’s horror series Goosebumps for Columbia Pictures. The Goosebumps series — which comprises more than 50 books that often pay homage to classic sci-fi/horror movies such as Night of the Living Dead and Invasion of the Body Snatchers as well as the twist endings of The Twilight Zone – have grossed hundreds of millions of dollars for publishers R.L. Stine and Scholastic, second only to the Harry Potter” series. Stine recently published a new 12-book series, Goosebumps in HorrorLand, and Scholastic plans to launch a videogame in the fall.
Straight-to-video versions of the book series have been made, but this project will mark the first feature adaptation of the series and could become a franchise for Columbia, which acquired the rights in May. Writers Karaszewski and Alexander are best known for their work on Ed Wood, Man on the Moon and The People vs. Larry Flynt, the latter of which earned them a Golden Globe. Other credits include 1408 and Ripley’s Believe It or Not.

Cast in place for horror-thriller Maneater
Filmmaker Michael Emanuel has ordered up his human buffet. The actor-producer has cast Dean Cain (Lois & Clark, Las Vegas), Conrad Janis (The Cable Guy), Stephen Lunsford (Bratz), Walter Phelan (House of 1000 Corpses), Maximillian Roeg (7th Heaven) and Lacy Phillips (Pushing Twilight) in his directorial debut, Maneater. The horror thriller about a former FBI profiler and small-town sheriff investigating mysterious murders is derived from a Native American legend. Emanuel wrote the screenplay with John K. Anderson.

Julius selected for big-screen adaptation
Mandalay Pictures has picked up the film rights to the graphic novel Julius, a modern re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. The Oni Press novel, written by Antony Johnston and illustrated by Brett Weldele, follows Julius, a London crime king who is beloved like royalty by the public. His generals, however, conspire against him. F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job, The Negotiator) will direct the feature.