‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’ Sequel Faces Major Delay as Rights Issue Stalls Progress

André Øvredal, the director behind Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, has shared a new update on the long-delayed sequel, and it’s not the news fans were hoping for. According to him, the project is still stuck because of complicated rights issues between studios.

Øvredal explained in an interview with /Film, the source of this information, that the sequel is caught in what he described as a legal deadlock.

He said, “What I can say is that it’s been stuck in a bit of a copyright ownership hell with two studios that don’t exist anymore, that produced a movie together, CBS Films and EOne, and they don’t really exist anymore. […] The rights spread out to two other companies, and then they have to agree to figure it out between them, and that has taken some time, but there is movement. We do have conversations about it once every couple of months, and there is currently some movement, I’m gathering. But it becomes about legal departments and not about creatives, because we have a story that I love that is just ready to go whenever somebody decides, ‘I own the movie, let’s go make it.’”

The first Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark film came out in 2019. It was produced by Guillermo del Toro, who also received a “story by” credit on the movie. The film was based on the classic children’s horror books by Alvin Schwartz, known for their disturbing stories and Stephen Gammell’s iconic illustrations. While the movie was not considered extremely scary by some critics, it still found a strong audience thanks to its nostalgic appeal and visual style.

A sequel was officially announced in 2020, which gave fans hope that the franchise would continue. By 2023, Øvredal had confirmed that a script existed and was being revised. Since then, however, updates have slowed down significantly.

The main issue now is not creative development but ownership. The original production companies involved, CBS Films and eOne, are no longer active in their original form. Their rights were transferred to other companies, and those companies now need to agree on how to move forward. According to Øvredal, this has turned the project into a legal struggle rather than a creative one.

Despite the setback, Øvredal made it clear that the story for the sequel is already prepared and ready to go if the rights situation is ever resolved. For now, though, the future of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2 remains uncertain, held back not by imagination, but by paperwork and studio agreements.

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