The Are You Afraid of the Dark? movie has taken an unfortunate step back as writer Gary Dauberman has executed the project. We first heard that Dauberman, the screenwriter behind movies such as IT and several entries in The Conjuring franchise, had been tapped by Paramount Pictures to bring Nickelodeon's 90s horror TV series to the big screen. Unfortunately, dreaded creative differences have gotten in the way and that particular creative partnership is no more.

Gary Dauberman is a busy guy. He's currently promoting the recent release of the Swamp Thing TV series on DC Universe, and he's also got Annabelle Comes Home, which serves as his directorial debut, set to arrive in theaters this summer. During a recent interview, the filmmaker was asked about the status of the Are You Afraid of the Dark? movie and he made it clear that he's no longer involved, in addition to revealing that it hasn't shot yet. Here's what Dauberman had to say about it.

"No, that actually hasn't shot yet. That's one of those things I'm no longer a part of. I just had a different vision to make it and thought it best to part ways... I don't think that's out there. It's unfortunate but as you said, that's sometimes how it goes."

This likely serves as a disappointment to many who were looking forward to the movie. Gary Dauberman has proved that he has the golden touch when it comes to horror in recent years. While his projects may not always hit it out of the park critically, audiences turn up time and time again to see horror movies he's personally involved in. As such, it seemed Are You Afraid of the Dark? was poised to be a potential crowd pleaser. That's not to say it still can't be, but Gary Daubermans don't grow on trees.

So where does that leave us? It's a little bit unclear. It hasn't yet been revealed who, if anyone, the studio has tapped to replace Gary Dauberman as screenwriter. Last we heard, D.J. Caruso (Disturbia) was being eyed to direct the movie. At the moment, we have no reason to believe his status is in doubt, but if the project gets delayed, Caruso may want to move onto other things. Originally, Paramount had set to hit theaters in October of this year. They've yet to give it a new release date, which does signal some sort of delay.

Meanwhile, Nickelodeon is said to be planning a revival of the kid-friendly horror classic on the small screen. The show originally aired from 1990 to 1996, with a brief revival in 1999, and serves as a major source of nostalgia for horror fans who grew up during that time. It's quite possible they could be rethinking the strategy a bit so that The Midnight Society can co-exist both on TV and at a theater near you. We'll be sure to keep you posted as any further details on the project are made available. This news was first reported by Slash Film.