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Fear Factor: House Of Fear Becomes Scripted Horror Series On My Drama
· Confirmed
In Short: Fox Entertainment Studios and Endemol Shine North America are turning the unscripted show 'Fear Factor: House Of Fear' into a scripted horror series for My Drama.
Fox Entertainment Studios and Endemol Shine North America are transforming the unscripted show 'Fear Factor: House Of Fear' into a scripted horror series, set to debut on Holywater Tech's My Drama platform. The series, which will consist of 30 three-minute episodes, is billed as the first major unscripted TV franchise to be adapted into a drama.
The as-yet-untitled scripted horror is inspired by Fox's Johnny Knoxville-hosted show and will take place during prep week on a remote horror television set. According to the series logline, a practical-effects artist and her crew unleash a haunted fortune-telling machine that forces them into personalized death trials, leaving the survivors to uncover its tragic origins before it claims everyone they love.
The drama is being developed as part of a broader strategy to expand the audience and help vertical TV evolve into mainstream entertainment. 'Vertical storytelling is creating a new language for entertainment, one built on immediacy, intimacy, and serialised discovery, and Fear Factor already speaks it fluently,' said Michael Heyerman, EVP, Unscripted Series, Endemol Shine North America.
The series is also the first horror series for My Drama, a global streaming service specializing in vertical video series for Microdrama. 'We’re grateful to see our vision of turning My Drama into a trusted platform for studios, creators and IP like Fear Factor come to life,' said Anatolii Kasianov and Bogdan Nesvit, co-founders and co-CEOs of Holywater Tech.
The move to adapt 'Fear Factor' into a scripted series is part of a larger trend in the entertainment industry, where established unscripted franchises are being remade as original scripted series. 'Fear Factor has always tapped into something primal: what scares us, how far we’ll go and what happens when we’re forced to confront our fears,' said Hannah Pillemer, Head of Scripted, Fox Entertainment Studios.
The reality competition series debuted on Fox and Hulu to 17.5 million multiplatform viewers, ranking as the season’s highest-rated broadcast debut and No. 1 in its time slot. 'Fear Factor' has become a global television phenomenon with 32 adaptations worldwide, and the network team saw the opportunity to bring this iconic franchise to Fox in a bold new way.
The distribution of the drama will be managed by Fox Entertainment Global, and the series is set to debut on My Drama, which is backed by the US broadcaster. 'Our partners at Fox gave the franchise a powerful new life with House of Fear, and we’re proud to build on that momentum. Alongside Holywater, together we’re creating a new generation of horror that doesn’t just fit the mobile screen but uses it as part of the experience,' said a spokesperson for Endemol Shine North America.
The untitled horror program is the network’s first unscripted-to-scripted television franchise extension, 'Fear Factor'’s first scripted adaptation, and the first horror series for My Drama. The series will stream on the My Drama platform owned by Holywater Tech, in which Fox has an equity stake.
Background
My Drama is a global streaming service specializing in vertical video series for Microdrama. It is owned by the company Holywater Tech.
What's confirmed
- Scripted series to consist of 30 x 3-minute episodes and touted as first major unscripted TV franchise to be adapted into a drama Fox Entertainment Studios and Endemol Shine North America are turning unscripted show Fear Factor: House Of Fear into a vertical video drama series.
- Distribution of the drama will be managed by Fox Entertainment Global.
- Fear Factor: House Of Fear is making the leap from an established unscripted television franchise to an original scripted series.
- “ Fear Factor has always tapped into something primal: what scares us, how far we’ll go and what happens when we’re forced to confront our fears,” said Hannah Pillemer, Head of Scripted, Fox Entertainment Studios.
- “Few franchises are as naturally built for vertical as Fear Factor,” said Michael Heyerman, EVP, Unscripted Series, Endemol Shine North America.
- “We’re grateful to see our vision of turning My Drama into a trusted platform for studios, creators and IP like Fear Factor come to life,” said Anatolii Kasianov and Bogdan Nesvit, co-founders and co-CEOs of Holywater Tech.
- Fox revived the series this year with the “House of Fear” spinoff, hosted by Johnny Knoxville.
What's still developing
- Simpson documentary OJ’s Accomplice moves up its premiere date after New York Times investigation The two-part documentary that claims to have “real evidence” that Simpson didn’t act alone in the killing of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman the night he was accused of the 1994 murders will now debut on Sunday, Nov.
- 60 Minutes viewership may have hit a season low “that has sparked chatter internally at CBS” “Early ratings reports put audience for this past Sunday’s telecast of 60 Minutes at about 5.7M, a low for the current season that has sparked chatter internally at CBS,” reports Variety’s Brian Steinberg.
- Nobody Wants This ’ Season 3 viewership is down 28% from Season 2 “Season 3 opened to 6.2 million views, down from Season 2’s debut viewership of 8.6 million views last October,” says The Wrap’s Loree Seitz.
- Sarah Snook sets HBO return with The Birds limited series The Emmy-winning former Succession star is poised to return to HBO in the potential series inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film and Daphne du Maurier’s 1952 novella.
- “Fear Factor” originally premiered in 2001 and ran for seven seasons.
- The fandom for “Fear Factor” has ebbed and flowed over the past decade but it remains a highly visible property for Banijay’s Endemol Shine unit, with some 32 adaptations worldwide.