Confirmation & Everything We Know About James Wan’s Munsters Reboot

The classic 1960s sitcom The Munsters is returning in a new horror reboot from James Wan, and there are already major updates about the upcoming series, 1313. Debuting in 1964, The Munsters turns the conventional family sitcom on its ear by presenting the typical American family as a group of classic monsters including a vampire, a man-made monster, and a werewolf. Unlike their horror movie counterparts, the Munster clan was quite friendly, and the humor of the show was derived from the way the lovable Herman and the rest of his family interacted with the world.

Though TV was still relatively young by the time The Munsters hit the scene, the show is a clever spoof of sitcom tropes even before those tropes had become ingrained in popular culture. Like its counterpart, The Addams Family, The Munsters was short-lived but still managed to be one of the best sitcoms of the 1960s despite only running two seasons. Because The Munsters made such a large mark on pop culture, efforts to revive the series have been numerous, and horror maven James Wan is the latest in a long line of creators who have planned to resurrect the show.

1313 Is Confirmed

A New Munsters Revival Is In The Works

With an announcement that came out of left field, it was revealed in late May 2024 that horror icon James Wan is behind a new reboot of The Munsters that plans to take the classic sitcom in a darker direction. With the working title of 1313, James Wan’s Munsters reboot will be a “darker reimagining of the 1964 classic sitcom The Munsters“ though details are still rather scant regarding the story. Wan’s announcement comes only two years after musician and filmmaker Rob Zombie put his own spin on The Munsters in a feature film.

Who Is Making 1313?

James Wan Is Producing

Even if details about casting and story are still unknown, the fledgling Munsters reboot project is already shaping up behind the scenes. 1313 is being developed by James Wan who is one of the most dynamic figures of horror in the new millennium. Bursting on the scene in 2004 when he directed the blockbuster horror film Saw, Wan quickly followed that massive franchise up with Insidious and The Conjuring, both of which have become multi-billion dollar franchises as well.

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1313 has already picked a showrunner to oversee the project and budding filmmaker Lindsey Anderson Beer will fill the role. Beer first made a name for herself as a writer on the Netflix film Sierra Burgess is a Loser before pulling double duty as writer/director on the Stephen King sequel film, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines in 2019. Beer is also attached to a host of upcoming projects including as a writer on Disney’s planned live-action remake of Bambi.

The Troubled History Of Munsters Reboots

Nothing Has Lived Up To The 1960s Original Series

Like the aforementioned Addams Family, The Munsters has seen its fair share of revival and reboot attempts in the more than 60 years since the show debuted. However, unlike The Addams Family, the less macabre family sitcom has largely flopped every time someone tries to reanimate the series. Besides the various follow-up films starring the original cast, The Munsters has also had its fair share of TV reboots, starting with 1988’s The Munsters Today. Though the modern retelling stuck around for 72 episodes, it’s hardly the TV institution that its predecessor was.

The first attempt to make a dark version of The Munsters came with 2012’s failed pilot Mockingbird Lane which was developed by Bryan Singer. NBC did not pick up the pilot, and it was canned over disagreements about the show’s inconsistent tone. A decade later, horror rocker and filmmaker Rob Zombie brought the campy atmosphere back to The Munsters with his 2022 film, but critics were unimpressed. Now, 1313 hopes to take another stab at the difficult franchise, but it will need to learn from the mistakes of previous attempts if it wants to succeed.

The Munsters

The Munsters is a popular family-friendly horror franchise that began in 1964 with Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo, Al Lewis, Butch Patrick, and Beverley Owen. The characters Herman, Lily, Grandpa, Eddie, and Marilyn have been recast several times over the decades, with each new movie and TV show taking the franchise in a new direction.

Created by

Ed Haas , Norm Liebmann

Cast

Fred Gwynne , Yvonne De Carlo , Al Lewis , Butch Patrick , Beverley Owen , Pat Priest , Jeff Daniel Phillips , Sheri Moon Zombie , Daniel Roebuck , Cassandra Peterson

Character(s)

Herman Munster , Lily Munster , Eddie Munster , Grandpa , Marilyn Munster

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