Killer Klowns From Outer Space Director Hoping to Develop Miniseries Revival

Killer Klowns from Outer Space was unleashed on audiences back in 1988, but unlike other horror-comedies of the decade, the fan-favorite adventure has failed to earn an official sequel, though director Stephen Chiodo has offered an update on the direction the franchise could possibly take. Instead of earning a theatrical follow-up, Chiodo notes that he is currently interested in developing a miniseries for a streaming platform, and as proven by the success of the Chucky TV series, it could be the perfect way to continue the legacy of that debut film in ways that might not have been possible with another cinematic installment.

"My goal is to do an eight-part miniseries for streamers. We've got a great concept that continues the story of our main characters. We'll follow a new group of teenagers who come upon the clowns and meet a drunk living in his van -- it's Mike Tobacco. There's a big invasion, and we end up on the clown planet," Chiodo shared with SFX Magazine, per ComingSoon. "We have lots of great ideas about where this universe goes. You haven't even seen the clown animals on the clown planet yet. There's a whole world of things that we have in mind!"

Part of the challenge of the franchise is that it faced complications in its home video release, with it not being widely available until nearly a decade after it first hit theaters. Despite those initial obstacles, the movie might be more popular now than ever, as tie-in merchandise at Spirit Halloween, a haunted attraction at Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights, and a new video game have revived interest in the concept. 

This is only the latest update about the project in recent years, as Chiodo shared back in 2021 that the concept was nearly extended first as a TV movie that could have served as a relaunch of the property.

"There was a deal… MGM controls the rights… and they went to SYFY," Chiodo shared with the Slasher Radio podcast at the time. "They did Critters, and you saw what that turned out to be like. But they wanted to do Klowns for like two million [dollars]. And we don't want to do that… we did it for two million back in the '80s. So we didn't want to do it. And even MGM didn't want to do it… they said it was a more valuable property than just signing off for that little money."  

With excitement for the movie only growing each year, it might only be a matter of time before we get the sequel audiences have been waiting four decades to see.

Stay tuned for updates on the possible future of Killer Klowns from Outer Space.

Are you hoping we get a sequel miniseries? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!