One fictional character that’s managed to successfully exist in both live-action and animated mediums is Casper the Friendly Ghost. This time, however, it looks like the character will be appearing in a new live-action “horror/adventure” series. The new Casper series, which has been put into development for the streaming service Peacock, has been described as a “coming-of-age story.”
This information, which comes via Deadline, should definitely be exciting for fans of the character. It’s unknown just how dark the horror elements of this series will be, but it’s been compared to the likes of “Riverdale‘s darker interpretation of the Archie comics.”
Here’s the setup, which will also feature a high school setting:
“When a new family arrives in the small town of Eternal Falls, Casper finds himself entangled in a mystery uncovering dark secrets that have been buried for over 100 years.”
While there aren’t many details beyond this, it’s certainly an interesting setup for a “horror/adventure” series. Especially one that’s based on the Casper brand. While the character has only ever been portrayed in a family-friendly point-of-view, there’s certainly a lot of potential for the character to be brought into darker storylines. With so many horror fans having been introduced to the genre by the likes of Casper the Friendly Ghost, this could be quite a hit with fans. Of course, this all depends on which direction they plan to take the material.
The new Casper series is being written/executive produced for Peacock by Kai Yu Wu. The series is produced by UCP, a division of Universal Studios Group, and DreamWorks Animation. Fans can stay tuned to ScreenGeek for more updates on this project as we have them. As for now, the only other details given are that the series is “expected to feature CGI effects” much like the live-action films before it.