For the last three years, The Walt Disney Company has spent lots of time, money, and energy building up its new primary streaming platform Disney+. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s lost interest in keeping the original home for family-friendly programming, the Disney Channel, alive.
If the fact that well-established franchises like Raven’s Home, Zombies, and Under Wraps have new chapters in the pipeline isn’t enough proof that the company believes both can co-exist, perhaps investment in a brand new franchise is.
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Thanks to sources close to The DisInsider, we can exclusively confirm that Disney has acquired the rights to the popular book series Pretty Freekin Scary and are developing it as a show for the Disney Channel.
Admittedly, we don’t know if it’s being developed as a live action project or an animated one, but judging by the synopsis of the source material, we’re inclined to believe it could be the latter.
Written by Chris P. Flesh (which is definitely a pseudonym), the four book series follows the adventures of a 14-year-old named Franklin, who dies but is given the opportunity to return to Earth with the help of two otherworldly companions named Pretty and Scary. However, when he returns, he has some surprising new abilities that ensure he makes the most of his life this time around.
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We can also report that in Disney’s adaptation, Franklin will be gender-swapped and be a 14-year-old girl named Frankie instead.
Production is slated to begin this July.
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