Disney+ won a five-way bidding war today for a new live-action series based on Casper the Friendly Ghost, with Steven Spielberg returning to the property he helped bring to the big screen back in 1995.
Rob Letterman is attached to direct, executive produce, and write the series. Hilary Winston joins him as a writer and executive producer, while Spielberg serves solely in an executive producing role. UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, and DreamWorks Animation TV are producing.
Letterman and Winston aren’t new to friendly-but-spooky territory. The two previously executive produced “Goosebumps” for Disney+, another supernatural series. That show ran two seasons before being cancelled, but clearly left Disney confident enough in the team to hand them a character with far more history attached.
The new series is described as a “modern update on the classic ghost story” that’s believed to have a dark edge, the way “Wednesday” tackles the Addams Family lore. That’s a telling comp. Netflix’s “Wednesday” proved there’s a real appetite for macabre-leaning takes on characters who were once considered strictly kids’ fare, and Disney+ seems to want a piece of that same audience.
Spielberg’s involvement closes a circle that’s been open for thirty-one years. His Amblin Entertainment produced the 1995 Universal feature “Casper,” which starred Christina Ricci and Bill Pullman, with Malachi Pearson voicing the title character. That film grossed over $287 million worldwide and remains many people’s clearest memory of the character. As was the case in the 1995 movie, the new live-action series is expected to feature CGI effects.
A previous live-action “Casper” series had been announced at Peacock in 2022, from DreamWorks and UCP, though it’s unclear whether the new Disney+ project evolved from that effort. Whatever the connection, the Peacock version never made it to air, and this Disney+ deal is being treated as a fresh start. If the series moves forward, it would be the first UCP project to land on Disney+, as the studio has previously set up titles at Netflix, Peacock, HBO Max, Apple TV, and Hulu.
Casper the character has roots going back to 1952, when Harvey Comics acquired the rights and began publishing comics. He first appeared in over fifty theatrical cartoons produced by Paramount Pictures titled “The Friendly Ghost” from 1945 to 1959. Five animated TV series followed across several decades. The 1995 film leaned into warmth and gentle comedy. Based on the “Wednesday” comparison making the rounds in trade coverage today, this version may lean somewhere considerably less comfortable.
No casting, release window, or episode count has been announced. The project is in early development.
