A “Young Frankenstein” television series based on the classic Mel Brooks film is in the works and nearing a pilot order at FX, TheWrap has learned.
Currently titled “Very Young Frankenstein,” the project comes from “What We Do in the Shadows” team Stefani Robinson and Taika Waititi, with Brooks also serving as executive producer. The project comes from 20th Television.
Deadline first reported the story. FX and 20th Television declined to comment.
Exact plot details for the spinoff are still under wraps, and casting for the pilot has yet to begin. But the horror-comedy genre is not out of the “What We Do in the Shadows” showrunners’ wheelhouse, coming off of a series about vampires from Staten Island.
The 1974 film “Young Frankenstein” parodied the horror genre. Based on the classic 1818 novel “Frankenstein,” the film starred Gene Wilder as Frederick Frankenstein, the grandson of mad scientist Victor Frankenstein. Along with his buddy Igor (Marty Feldman), young Frankenstein—pronounced Fronkensteen— attempts to save his family name by creating his own monster.
The film was then adapted into a Broadway musical, which opened in 2007 and closed after nearly 500 performances.
Several of Brooks’ comedies have been adapted in recent years. Hulu gave his 1981 film “History of the World, Part 1” a sequel television series in 2023, starring Ike Barinholtz, Wanda Sykes, and Nick Kroll. His comedic sci-fi film “Spaceballs” has also been optioned by Amazon MGM+ and is currently casting.
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