DreamWorks Animation's Fright Krewe season 2 is now streaming on Hulu and Peacock, and we recently caught up with creators and executive producers Eli Roth (Thanksgiving) and James Frey (A Million Little Pieces) to discuss their "gateway horror" series.
This thrilling new chapter of horror for older kids picks up with the fear-mongering demon Belial now hellbent on destruction. As the threat of the demon looms large, the Fright Krewe and their newfound supernatural allies, the rougarous and vampires come together for an unprecedented battle to save the world.
However, with Belial resurrecting every demonic entity known to evil kind, will the superpowers gifted to the teens by the loas prove stronger than the diabolical forces unleashed?
During our conversation, we hear from Roth and Frey on continuing this story with a second batch of episodes, the challenge of making horror for a younger audience, Fright Krewe's awesome monster designs, and their approach to bringing these characters to the screen.
They also weigh in on a possible live-action adaptation of the series, what fans can expect from season 2, and share exciting updates on the Hostel and I Am Number Four franchises.
You can read our full interview with the filmmakers below.
It was great to hear that Fright Krewe would return for a second season, especially when so many streaming shows are one-and-done. What did that renewal mean to you both?
Eli: Well, we were thrilled, but it’s almost a bit deceptive because when we got the original order, it was for 20 episodes! The network decided to split it into two seasons, so we started with one and then they announced season 2. When we structured the story, we did it all in bulk with the voices and everything, including the animation pipeline, because it’s better to do it as 20 episodes. We were thrilled when we got that. What’s been really great is the response to season 1.
Because it’s on streaming, and Hulu and Peacock have been amazing, we knew we could tell a long-form story where, in each episode, there are different monsters, but you’re telling this one overarching story and you can resolve it at the end of season 2. Ideally, we’d love to do more and a season 3 and 4 but we just thrilled we got to do season 2. As soon as the first one came out and was so well-received, they said, ‘Let’s just announce it right away so people know.’ We wanted them to know. I loved Archive 81 and then they said it’s not coming back and I couldn’t believe it. I was so mad that it wasn’t renewed. I wanted people to know that it’s okay to invest in this story and that they’ve got a season 2 coming.
James: It was thrilling when that order came in. Eli and I talk about this, but when we first came up with the idea for this show and first started writing something for it nine years ago. We worked on this for a whole bunch of years and, to their credit, DreamWorks Animation were the most supportive partners we could have asked for. They kept pushing it and we kept working on it while they kept bringing in great people. Our director, our showrunners, our composer, the animators…it’s the best of the best.
When we got that 20-episode order, those days are always great because it brings a huge smile. We do what we do to get the opportunity to do this kind of stuff. There’s nothing better than when you get something greenlit or ordered and when they do two seasons, it sounds corny, but it was an awesome dream come true. From the moment Eli and I started coming up with this and working on it.
Eli: And also, when it turns out even better than you first planned. As you go along the way, it attracts like-minded energy. Our director, our showrunners, the incredible writing staff, and our artists. We wanted to do a 2D show, and someone said we’re the only DreamWorks Animation TV show, but we wanted this to look 3D and have animation that’s rich and beautiful and lush, and would hold up on a 100-inch 4K television. Everybody worked so hard and the voice artists who came in, including Vanessa Hudgens, to do voices for fun. It turned out so much bigger and better than we ever hoped and it’s nice to see people respond the way they do. Season 1, we get to set up the characters, but with season 2, we really get to test them and push the scares even further. It’s a fantastic season.
Eli, for someone who is known for pretty hardcore horror projects, did you feel any pressure initially working on a show like this when it’s likely to be an introduction to this genre for many kids?
Eli: You know, I see limitations as an opportunity. My son is 16 and this started when James’ daughter was 10 and we did this thinking about kids like her and my brother’s kids. I grew up watching Scooby-Doo and Beetlejuice, so we thought, ‘We need to create a new mythology.’ Like Thanksgiving where I wanted to give a new slasher to the fans, I want to give new mythology for kids so they can get the joy of being scared, but also see the values of friendship and bravery, and finding your own inner power. There are so many great messages that can be put into a horror film or a genre film. We had The Goonies as a kid too and that craving for a scare and the sense of adventure are the things we loved and the spirit we wanted to infuse into Fright Krewe.
What’s funny is that everyone else who worked on this, like [showrunners] Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco, they came from the Jurassic World animated series and said, ‘Oh, let’s chop off some heads…it’s Eli and James, so we can go crazy now!’ My name on it gives everyone permission to go bonkers and James gives you permission to deal with really dark themes. Between the two of us, they were like, ‘Oh great, all the stuff we aren’t allowed to do on other shows can be channelled into Fright Krewe.’ Often, I’m like, ‘Man, people are going to think it must be me coming up with the sickest things,’ but all of these writers have so many different sides to them and things they want to express that it was just this wonderful collaboration. Everyone had permission to run wild in the confines of the show and what’s really great is that there are so many horror fans saying, ‘Finally! Something I can watch with my kids.’ And now, they’re a little older they want to see some scarier stuff.
James, I know groups of characters like the ones in this show have been a big part of your previous work, such as I Am Number Four, and friendship is really key to Fright Krewe. What’s been fun about exploring that heading into season 2?
James: Like Eli said, we first came up with this idea when my oldest child was 10 and we were like, ‘Let’s make a great new horror show.’ I had been watching Scooby-Doo with her and thought, ‘These are the same ones I saw when I was 8.’ One of the best parts about childhood is your friends. We’ve all got that little gang of friends that we ran around with as kids and friendship and being battle-tested as kids, those are huge, important parts of a young life. As we were thinking about, ‘Okay, how do we want to do a 21st Century kids horror show?’ it became, ‘Let’s put a gang of them together and a bunch of kids who might now otherwise be friends together in a situation where they have to be friends, and let’s play.’ It’s a great way to make, whether it’s a book, movie, or animated show, content for kids. It also encourages them to watch it with their friends and talk to their friends about it and mimic the friendships they’re watching on screen in their own lives. The show has been a real joy. It’s been a joy to work with my buddy Eli, a joy to work with DreamWorks, Kristine, Joanna, and Shane Acker are epically good people and epically good at their jobs. This whole experience has been a blast. And I think we’ve made something great.
Eli: When you think of friendships, and one of the James does so well in I Am Number Four, is he treats the kids with respect. He doesn’t talk down to them. He doesn’t treat them like adult characters, but he talks to them like intelligent young adults and that, to me, is like how Spielberg dealt with kids or the when I watch Stand By Me and how it dealt with those kids. It’s the last line in the movie when Richard Dreyfuss says, ‘We’ll never have friendships as intense as when I was 14 years old. Shit, does anyone?’ That really struck me because there’s something about being that age and the intensity of those friendships. What if you put that in a supernatural setting and it wasn’t a man in a mask like Scooby-Doo, but was a real monster? And you really have to beat this thing because there’s real consequences? This thing will kill you! That’s the other thing we infused because it’s not going to be scary if we feel like, ‘Well, they’re going to get out of this. That thing isn’t too dangerous.’ No, they better figure out how to defeat this thing by working together, and fast or this thing will cause real lasting damage. That’s one of the tenets of great horror: anyone can go at any time.
I’m glad you mentioned the monsters. Season 1 had some great designs, but these episodes really up the ante. Do you feel like kids yourselves when you’re sitting down with the art department to dream these things up? They’re so different from what we usually see in these shows.
James: When we first started, we made a huge list of monsters that we both thought were cool and that we hadn’t really seen in anything. And then we specifically tailored it to New Orleans monsters. There’s really no city in the world with a better roster of monster and horror history. So, to answer your question, yes, it’s super fun and it still is [Laughs].
Eli: It never gets old. As fun as it was in fifth grade when you’re drawing monsters in art class, that excitement and enthusiasm doesn’t change. We had spectacular designers and artists so when you see them, you go, ‘Oh my God, this is incredible.’ They were so imaginative, and scary, and brilliant, and creepy. It’s nightmare fuel and it’s fantastic.
James: I think Eli would agree that literally every time we have seen new art, whether it was of our own characters or the monsters, it has exceeded our expectations and our hopes. Eli and I have discussed as we’ve watched it that it’s been better than we thought it would be. The studio and the network and the crew made something better than we hoped they would, and in Hollywood and the entertainment business, that almost never, ever happens. But it happened here. I think the show is spectacular.
Eli: Yeah, and by the way, credit to DreamWorks Animation. They have such high standards and are always challenging us and pushing to make it better. Hulu and Peacock getting behind it and supporting it too. It’s a combination of the artists that want to do it but also the studio that goes, ‘Oh, we can do this even better.’
That’s awesome to hear. This is such a great series and I hope you get to come back for season 3, but as I watched, I couldn’t help but think it would be great to see these characters in live-action. Is that something you’ve both given thought to?
James: We’ve certainly thought about it and discussed it. It’s definitely not our decision, but if DreamWorks Animation wants to expand this into a film, I think they’d have two very, very willing collaborators.
Eli: Absolutely. I mean, we would, for sure. I’ve also seen where you’re making something in the horror space and everyone is going, ‘Oh, wait until the franchise!’ It’s a word that gets thrown about before you’re done with the first one and I say, ‘No, make this great. That’s your only focus.’ And then the universe will tell you what’s supposed to happen next. Generally, you just focus on making it great and there’s a rightness to the way things shake out, but as James said, we’d love this in any and all forms. Right now, the series has been the best way to tell these stories and to go into the world of the characters, the monsters, and the mythology. We’d love to continue it.
Eli, while I’ve got you, I know you have Borderlands on the way and a great new franchise with Thanksgiving, but I love the Hostel movies. Do you anticipate ever coming back to make a true Hostel 3 or are you too busy these days?
Eli: Never say never. There’s a lot of stuff that I’m working on that I just don’t discuss. Let’s just put it this way: I have a lot more to say in that universe and I plan on saying it.
James, I Am Number Four is a great property. Any chance a sequel or reboot could be on the horizon, whether it’s in television or film?
James: Neal Moritz is producing a version of it that was written by the original writers, Al and Miles, who just made Wednesday. So, we are in princess on it and I can’t say whether it will actually ever get made or not, but I have great people I’m working with who are trying to make it happen, for sure.
What would you both tease about what fans can expect from season 2 of Fright Krewe?
Eli: I think the monsters get scarier and the friendships and powers are tested. It’s like going up to a more advanced level in a video game. As you get closer to the final boss, it gets scarier and more dangerous.
James: And season 1 was really the set up of the world and the characters. Now we’re in it. We’re deep into the story and the world and we hope we get to keep going because we have more story to tell with these characters and in this world.
Finally, something I really appreciated about the show was the time we get to spend with its characters. They’re facing some major threats and there are real stakes; what have you guys enjoyed about putting yourselves in the shoes of these kids and seeing this world from their perspective?
Eli: Well, monsters are always a metaphor for some sort of problem. Whether it’s the Wolf Man and adolescence and puberty or all these things, the monsters always represent some aspect of a person or society. Or some monstrous aspect of ourselves. That’s what’s interesting. I don’t want to give too much away, but that’s part of the fun. There’s some id form of you that’s an aberration from society that’s doing the worst thing possible and you think, ‘How would I deal with it?’ Putting it into the form of a monster makes it a problem you can deal with and the monsters are always symbolic of some greater evil or a flaw or part of ourselves that we don’t know how to deal with or control.
James: I always say I try to make things I wish already existed in the world that I wish someone else had made. As a father of three kids, I wished this show had existed so I could watch it with my children. I watched season 1 with my youngest and I’ll watch season 2 with them too, but for me, that’s maybe the coolest part of all of this. You have these things and say, ‘Man, I wish that existed.’ Eli and I have both been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to make those things exist. Season 2 is something we talked about a long time ago and it’s great to see it real and it’s great to watch it with my kids. For me, that’s why I do this stuff and this has been a great run. It’s been great to work with my pal Eli, it’s been great to work with DreamWorks Animation, and great to work with the killer staff we have.