Summary
The upcomingThe Munstersreboot produced by James Wan could break a 20-year-old sitcom curse. Although Wan is a prolific producer, he is best known as the director that kicked off the major horror franchisesSaw,Insidious, andThe Conjuringin addition to helmingFurious 7,Aquaman, andAquaman 2. As a producer, he has largely overseen titles in the horror genre, including the viral killer doll movieM3GAN, the Netflix slasherThere’s Someone Inside Your House, and the Prime Video reboot seriesI Know What You Did Last Summer.
It was recently announced that Wan was in development on aMunstersreboottitled1313. The project has been described asa “darker reimagining” of the property,though no further plot details or casting announcements were revealed at the time. The show is set to be run by Lindsey Anderson Beer, who was previously best known for writing and directing the Stephen King prequelPet Sematary: Bloodlines, though she is also the co-writer of the upcoming photorealistic Disney remakeBambi, which is set to premiere in 2025.
10 Best Sitcoms That Were Turned Into Movies
Sitcoms and iconic TV shows often lend themselves to being reimagined as movies for the silver screen.
James Wan Can Finally Make A Worthwhile Remake Of The Munsters After 20 Years Of Attempts
A Munsters Television Reboot Has Consistently Failed To Happen
Although 2022 saw the release of Rob Zombie’sThe Munsters,a live-action prequel movie, so far there has beenno movement on a proper television reboot of the show in some time. The last time the characters have graced the small screen in an episodic format was in the color seriesThe Munsters Today, which aired for three seasons between 1988 and 1991. Although various attempts have been made to return the show to television in the meantime, they have all failed. Below, see a breakdown of theMunstersrebootsthat have so far been unable to come to fruition:
Announcement Date
UntitledMunstersMovie
Keenen Ivory Wayans (Writer-Producer), Shawn Wayans (Writer-Producer), and Marlon Wayans (Writer-Producer)
August 2004
Mockingbird Lane
Bryan Fuller (Writer-Creator), Jerry O’Connell (Star - Herman Munster), Portia de Rossi (Star - Lily Munster), Eddie Izzard (Star - Grandpa)
Seth Myers (Developer)
August 2017
Of the threeMunstersmovies and TV showsthat have capsized,only one made it to the air in any form. That would be Bryan Fuller’sMockingbirdLane, which had a pilot shot before creative differences led to it not getting picked up to series. The pilot, which also starred Charity Wakefield, Mason Cook, Beth Grant, and John Kassir, premiered on NBC as a Halloween special in October 2012. While it remains to be seen if the Wan project gains traction, it could very well finally become the first of these projects to get a proper series order.
Why James Wan’s Dark Approach To The Munsters Remake Is A Good Idea
The Munsters Is Well Suited For A Modern Horror Trend
While all threeThe Munstersreboot shows, in addition to the movie, had different takes on the material, Wan’s darker reboot could very well strike gold. The original series held many subtextual parallels to the treatment of non-white families in American suburbia, something that the new remake could accentuate and treat with more nuance. If this were to be the case, it could follow in the footsteps of the ongoing “social thriller” trend that had a boom in the wake of the success of Jordan Peele’s Oscar-winning horror hitGet Out.
The Munsters
The Munsters is a popular family-friendly horror franchise that began in 1964 with Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo, Al Lewis, Butch Patrick, and Beverley Owen. The characters Herman, Lily, Grandpa, Eddie, and Marilyn have been recast several times over the decades, with each new movie and TV show taking the franchise in a new direction.
