Tubi is heading back to the suburbs for a night of mayhem. The Fox-owned free streaming service has locked up a series adaptation of R.L. Stine's "The Babysitter," with a 2027 premiere planned, USA Film News has learned exclusively.
The project draws on the same premise that powered the 2017 cult favorite: a boy named Cole who sneaks out of bed after lights-out and stumbles onto a horrifying truth about the cool older girl watching him for the evening - she belongs to a Satanic cult, and its members will do whatever it takes to make sure he never tells anyone. The original film blended slapstick comedy with splatter-heavy horror, a tonal tightrope that helped it stand apart from the era's straighter slasher fare.
Released on October 13, 2017, "The Babysitter" ran just 85 minutes and was directed by McG, the filmmaker behind the "Charlie's Angels" movies and "Terminator Salvation." Judah Lewis played Cole Johnson, the put-upon kid at the center of the story, while Samara Weaving broke out as Bee, the titular sitter whose cheerful demeanor masks something far darker. The supporting cast included Robbie Amell as Max, Hana Mae Lee as Sonya, Bella Thorne as Allison, Emily Alyn Lind as Melanie, Andrew Bachelor as John, and Doug Haley as Samuel. The film holds a 6.195/10 rating on TMDb, a middling score that nonetheless reflects a devoted following built in the years since its debut.
From One Night to a Series
The jump to television marks a significant expansion for material that, in its original form, unfolded over a single evening. A feature has roughly an hour and a half to establish its rules, escalate the threat, and land a payoff. A series order gives writers room to stretch those same beats across multiple episodes, which raises the obvious question of how a premise built on one very bad night sustains itself over a full season.
Horror has been one of Tubi's most reliable categories as the platform competes for viewers in an increasingly crowded free streaming market. Genre titles perform well with the service's audience, and recognizable intellectual property gives subscribers a reason to click. "The Babysitter" fits that calculus neatly: a title with name recognition, a premise that can be summarized in a sentence, and a fan base that has spent nearly a decade wondering whether the story would continue in some form.
Stine's involvement gives the adaptation a marquee name. The author built a publishing empire on "Goosebumps" and "Fear Street," series that introduced generations of young readers to horror before they graduated to harder stuff. His name carries a specific promise - scares calibrated for younger audiences, delivered with a sense of humor - and the original "The Babysitter" film operated in roughly that register, albeit with considerably more blood than a "Goosebumps" installment. How the series balances those instincts will shape what it ultimately becomes.
What the Tradeoffs Look Like
Adapting a lean, 85-minute thriller into an ongoing series carries real risk. Pacing that felt relentless on screen can turn slack when stretched, and the central reveal - the cult, the betrayal, the fight for survival - loses its shock value once audiences know it's coming. The creative team will need to decide whether to retell the original story at greater length, build a continuation that picks up after the film's events, or reimagine the premise entirely. Tubi has not indicated which direction the project will take.
Casting is another open question. Lewis and Weaving anchored the film's cat-and-mouse dynamic, and their chemistry was a large part of why the movie worked as well as it did. A series version would likely recast both roles, or position new characters alongside them. No announcements on that front have been made.
What is clear is that Tubi sees value in the title. The service has been steadily assembling a slate of original programming to complement its library of licensed films and shows, and a horror adaptation with a built-in audience and a well-known author attached fits that strategy. Production details, episode count, and a specific launch date within 2027 remain under wraps.
For now, fans of the 2017 film have confirmation that Cole's worst babysitting job is getting a second life - this time with room to run. Whether a longer format serves the story or dilutes it is a question only the finished episodes can answer. Tubi is betting that audiences who thrilled to the original will follow the cult back for more.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
