EXCLUSIVE: Zero, meet Casper. In a very competitive situation involving a five-way bidding war, Disney+ has landed a new series take on Casper the Friendly Ghost. The live-action project comes from Rob Letterman and Hilary Winston, executive producers of another Disney+ supernatural series, Goosebumps, Steven Spielberg, who executive produced the 1995 Universal movie Casper starring Christina Ricci, and UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group.

There are no details yet about the new Casper, described as a modern update on the classic ghost story, which is in the early stages of development. It is believed to have a dark edge to it the way Wednesday tackles the Addams Family lore.

Letterman and Winston are writing, with Letterman set to direct. The duo are executive producing with Spielberg.

Casper originated as an affable translucent ghost featured in a string of animated movies by Famous Studios released between 1945 and 1959. That’s when the character was acquired by Harvey Comics, which had published Casper comics since 1952. Since then, Casper has headlined a slew of comic books, five animated TV series as well as Universal Pictures’ 1995 live-action feature Casper, produced by Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and The Harvey Entertainment Co. 

In 2001, Harvey Entertainment was acquired by Classic Media. In 2012, Classic Media was bought by DreamWorks Animation, which in turn was acquired by Universal Pictures parent NBCUniversal in 2016, explaining why the potential Disney+ series is a co-production between DreamWorks Animation TV and UCP.

Like was the case in the 1995 Casper movie, which starred Ricci, Bill Pullman as well as Malachi Pearson as the voice of the title character, the new live-action series is expected to feature CGI effects.

If Casper, which has a premium development deal, goes to series, it will be Universal Studio Group’s first on Disney+. I hear that was a consideration when choosing the winner in the bidding war as having shows on all major streamers has been a goal for the studio. USG’s Universal TV has several series on Netflix, including A Man On the Inside, Four Seasons as well as new medical drama Lovesick starring Claire Danes, which just landed there with a straight-to-series order, also in a competitive situation.

On Prime Video, the studio has We Were Liars, at Apple TV the upcoming Cape Fear, at HBO Max Hacks and The Gilded Age. At Hulu, UCP recently produced Murdaugh: Death in the Family, and Universal TV just sold for development bodyguard drama Close Protection.

In 2022, UCP set up for development at sibling streamer Peacock a different Casper live-action series, written/executive produced by The Ghost Bride head writer Kai Yu Wu, which ultimately did not go forward.

This is a rare Disney+ series project based on famous IP that is not from within the Disney ecosystem or derived from books. If Casper goes to series, the character will co-exist on the platform alongside famous Disney ghost characters, including The Nightmare Before Christmas‘ dog Zero.

Letterman developed the 2023 Goosebumps, based on the book series by R. L. Stine, with Nicholas Stoller. Letterman, who had directed the 1995 Goosebumps feature, was an executive producer/director and Winston an executive producer/showrunner on the series, which ran on Disney+ and Hulu for two seasons. Letterman’s feature credits include Monsters vs. Aliens and Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, which he co-wrote and directed. He is repped by UTA.

Winston serves as an executive producer and co-showrunner on the current second season of Fox’s comedy series Going Dutch. Her writing-producing credits also include Krapopolis, Community, Happy Endings, My Name is Earl and well as CBS’ Bad Teacher, which she developed. Her feature writing credits include The Lego Ninjago Movie and The Bad Guys. Winston is repped by UTA, Rise Management and Yorn Levine Barnes.