Horror director Eli Roth is entering the world of children’s programming with DreamWorks’ “Fright Krewe.” The upcoming series comes from Roth and controversial author James Frey, who wrote “A Million Little Pieces.”
The 10-episode arc is DreamWorks’ first horror series for older children. According to the logline, “An ancient prophecy and a Voodoo Queen put misfit teens in charge of saving New Orleans from the biggest demonic threat it’s faced in almost two centuries. But, honestly? Saving the world might be easier than becoming friends.”
The 2D series will have 10 episodes in its first season and will premiere on Hulu and Peacock.
“Fright Krewe” comes from Eli Roth and James Frey. Roth, Frey, Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco executive produce the series with Shane Acker and Mitchell Smith serving as co-executive producers.
Though this will mark the “Cabin Fever” and “Hostel” director’s first-ever children’s series, this isn’t Roth’s only go-round with animation. In 1999, Roth created “Chowdaheads” with Noah Belson. The series was originally supposed to premiere during WCW wrestling matches but never actually aired. That was followed in 2003 by “The Rotten Fruit,” and adult animated series about a bunch of sociopathic and violent pieces of fruit that were also part of a rock band. The series only lasted three episodes.
Yet as unexpected as this pivot from Roth may be, it’s arguably Frey’s involvement that may be more surprising to the average person. Frey was a major figure in the 2000s thanks to his books “A Million Little Pieces” and “My Friend Leonard,” both of which were marketed as memoirs. He even appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” to promote his work. Later it was discovered that large chunks of his books were either exaggerated or fabricated, and he returned to Oprah’s show to admit to the allegations against him. “South Park” even aired an episode mocking the controversy, titled “A Million Little Fibers.”
In the years since, Frey published the 2008 bestseller “Bright Shiny Morning” and founded Full Fathom Five, a young adult publishing company that aimed to create highly commercialized novels. The company was responsible for the “The Lorien Legacies” book series. The first book in the series — “I Am Number Four” — was turned into a feature film by DreamWorks Pictures. Even that endeavor wasn’t devoid of controversy. FFF was later accused of exploiting MFA students as a source of cheap labor.
