Kids have loved Goosebumps books for years, and even though there was a Goosebumps television show for several years, there's never been a version of R.L. Stine onscreen. Now, there will be- played by Jack Black in the upcoming Goosebumps movie. And according to R.L. Stine, having a famous actor play you in a movie is a very bizarre experience.
In a recent interview, Stine explained the process for how he met Jack Black and Jack Black created his own version of R.L. Stine. "Yeah, Jack flew in. He actually flew into New York in a blizzard last winter to have lunch, and I think he just came to look at me. I don't know; we had a great time. He's terrific. We had a really nice talk, a very comfortable time. He was trying to figure out how he could play me or what he could do that would be different. It was fun. He decided to be a more sinister version of me."
The film follows R.L. Stine (the sinister version, played by Black), who lives in a world of real monsters and keeps those monsters contained inside his books. Unfortunately, a group of kids unleash the monsters, and they and Stine have to stop them from rampaging. Dylan Minnette, Amy Ryan and Odeya Rush also star.
Stine also discussed the process of how he first got involved with the film:
"Well, come on, the film has been in the works for -- Goosebumps is 23 years old -- the film has been in the works in one way or another for many, many years. Originally it was at Fox, and Tim Burton was supposed to be the producer, back in the early days. That didn't work out, he didn't do anything, and nothing happened. Then it was taken by Sony -- recently -- but this script, actually, the one that they finally liked, was like the sixteenth script! It's unbelievable."
"It's gone through so much. I had very little input in the film at all until they decided that I would be the main character. Then of course, once it was about R.L. Stine, they had to include me. They had to show me the script, and I had to talk about how I was being treated and portrayed, which was fun. Very exciting. It's a very weird thing to be a character in a movie and to be played by somebody else."
The Goosebumps film is set to premiere on October 16, 2015.
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