After making its return to television earlier this year with the Johnny Knoxville-hosted reboot series “Fear Factor: House of Fear,” the brand is now getting its own scripted series for the first time.
The untitled “Fear Factor” spinoff series, in other words, won’t be an unscripted reality series but rather a fully scripted horror series with a narrative conjured up by (hopefully human) writers.
The catch? This new “Fear Factor” project will be a Vertical series, meaning it’ll be one of those shows that’s intended to be watched vertically on your cell phone. We live in wild times, don’t we?
Deadline details that the series from Fox Entertainment Studios and Endemol Shine North America, a Banijay America company, will debut on Holywater Tech‘s My Drama platform.
I have no idea what any of this means, mind you. But I’m just the messenger who’s been tasked with regurgitating this news from that outlet onto this outlet. And that’s all I’m here to do.
The unscripted “Fear Factor” series will feature THIRTY EPISODES, each one running 3-minutes long, “taking the thrills, tension, and terror synonymous with Fear Factor and reimagining the franchise as an entirely original fictional horror story.”
Hey, cool, why the hell not… right?!
Deadline further details in their report this afternoon, “The vertical series takes place during prep week on a remote horror television set, where 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.”
“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. “Michael Thorn and his network team saw the opportunity to bring this iconic franchise to Fox in a bold new way, successfully introducing House of Fear and the outrageous Johnny Knoxville to a whole new generation of fans. That tremendous response has opened the door to take Fear Factor somewhere it has never gone before: becoming the first unscripted television franchise to make the leap into original scripted storytelling. Our friends at Endemol Shine came to us with an inspired way to do exactly that, turning everything audiences love about Fear Factor into the foundation for a completely original horror story.”
“Few franchises are as naturally built for vertical as Fear Factor,” said Michael Heyerman, EVP, Unscripted Series, Endemol Shine North America. “Vertical storytelling is creating a new language for entertainment, one built on immediacy, intimacy, and serialized discovery, and Fear Factor already speaks it fluently. 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.”
The Johnny Knoxville-hosted reboot series, in the meantime, will return for a second season.
