Disney+ Developing Live-Action ‘Casper’ Series

Casper the Friendly Ghost is making another comeback.

Deadline reports that Disney+ has won a five-way bidding war to develop a new take on the beloved ghost kid.

From Goosebumps executive producers Rob Letterman and Hilary Winston, 1995’s Casper EP Steven Spielberg, and UCP, the new series is described as a modern update on the ghost story. It’s in early stages of development, but is believed to have a darker tone, much like Netflix’s Wednesday. Letterman and Winston are writing, with Letterman set to direct. The duo will also executive produce alongside Spielberg.

Casper the Friendly Ghost originated in 1945 in a string of theatrical cartoons through 1959. Harvey Comics purchased the character outright in 1959 after publishing the comic books since 1952. Casper went on to appear in five television shows between 1959 and 2012. He made his theatrical film debut in the 1995 live-action adaptation from Universal Pictures starring Christina Ricci, Bill Pullman, Cathy Moriarty, and Eric Idle. Casper also had four additional direct-to-video and made-for-TV follow-up films, including 1998’s Casper Meets Wendy, starring a young Hilary Duff.

The new Casper series has a premium development deal, and it’s reported that if it goes to series, it will mark Universal Studio Group’s first show on Disney+. This is also a rare case for Disney+ as it’s a project based on a famous IP that is not from within the Disney realm nor derived from books. Considering Disney was determined to win the bidding war, that doesn’t seem to matter. Casper has been quite the fan favorite over the years, so it’s not so surprising that the company would want to be in on it.

This is not the first time that Universal has attempted to get a live-action Casper series off the ground. In 2022, it was reported that Peacock was developing a new series, with a tone similar to Riverdale, providing a darker take on the beloved ghost. Written and executive produced by Kai Yu Wu, the show would have followed a new family arriving in the small town of Eternal Falls, where Casper gets involved in a mystery with dark secrets that have been hidden for over 100 years. The show eventually did not move forward at Peacock, but it sounds like the studio doesn’t want to stop trying to bring a darker take to Capser. Whether or not Disney+ will move forward with it remains to be seen.