海角大神

A trailer has arrived for the upcoming film adaptation of the kids鈥� horror book series 鈥淕oosebumps.鈥�

The film stars Dylan Minnette of 鈥淎lexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day鈥� as Zach, who moves to a new town and meets his neighbors Hannah (Odeya Rush) and her uncle R.L. Stine (the actual name of the author who writes the 鈥淕oosebumps鈥� books and who is portrayed by Jack Black in the film). A series of unfortunate events leads to the creepy characters from Stine鈥檚 books being unleashed on the town.

Stine鈥檚 books were previously adapted as a TV series that ran on Fox during the 1990s.

While parents would no doubt judge for themselves based on their child, the 鈥淕oosebumps鈥� books were aimed at fairly young readers, with one title listed as being appropriate for children ages 8 to 12. The film may be trying to draw in a teen audience as well, as Minnette is 18 in real life and Rush is also 18. However, younger children who read the books will no doubt go to see the film.聽

The 鈥淕oosebumps鈥� film is one of what seems like an increasingly rare breed: a live-action film aimed at a young audience (not, for example, high school students). Recent smashes like the 2014 film 鈥淭he Fault in Our Stars鈥� and the still-continuing 鈥淗unger Games鈥� series were based on young adult titles and few parents would probably bring a 10-year-old, for example, to go see it 鈥� its plot and themes would most likely prove upsetting or confusing for kids in that age range.

With Pixar releasing a movie almost every year and Disney still a cultural force at the movie theater, other studios are no doubt loath to go up against them, since animated films by both have proven so successful. In addition, some recent live-action movies aimed squarely at a younger audience (rather than other young adult hits like 鈥淭he Hunger Games鈥�) have stumbled at the box office, which could make studios leery as well. The 2014 film 鈥淎lexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day鈥� was released this past October and did all right at the box office, but was not a huge hit, while "Annie," which came out the same year, did not succeed either and the sequel "Muppets Most Wanted" did even worse than the other two. 2013's "Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters" was also not a winner. The 鈥淣ight at the Museum鈥� series has done good business over the last several years, but the last film (2014鈥檚 鈥淣ight at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb鈥�) grossed far less than its predecessors.聽

The early 鈥淗arry Potter鈥� films were good for most ages, though it鈥檚 probably another discussion on whether the later ones would have been appropriate for that same hypothetical 10-year-old (a whole lot of major characters met their end in the last installment). A live-action film for younger kids hasn鈥檛 been in the top 20 highest-grossing films domestically since 2011, when 鈥淭he Smurfs鈥� performed positively at the box office. (A sequel didn鈥檛 fare as well.)

鈥淕oosebumps,鈥� however, may pull in a younger kid audience as well as Millennials who grew up in the 鈥�90s and remember the books fondly. This one-two punch could help 鈥淕oosebumps鈥� find box office success.