R.L. Stine’s ‘The Babysitter’ Heads to Tubi With Live-Action Movie Set for 2027
R.L. Stine and Tubi are digging deeper into the author’s catalog, with The Babysitter becoming the latest horror property headed to the streaming service.
Tubi Chief Content Officer Adam Lewinson announced a live-action feature adaptation of Stine’s The Babysitter book series Sunday during the “R.L. Stine on Tubi” panel at New York Comic Con. The movie is scheduled to premiere exclusively on Tubi in 2027.
Trevor Calverley will direct the adaptation from a screenplay by Jem Garrard, the writer-director behind Tubi’s Pumpkinhead adaptation.
First published in 1989, Stine’s The Babysitter launched a series that continued through the 1990s and brought the author’s brand of young-adult suspense into a story built around one of horror’s most enduring setups: a teenager alone in someone else’s house as an unseen threat begins closing in.
The Tubi adaptation follows 16-year-old Jenny, who takes a babysitting job while trying to earn enough money to attend a prestigious writing program. Her timing couldn’t be worse, as a prowler has been terrorizing girls across town.
When Jenny begins receiving threatening phone calls and a dangerous fugitive surfaces in the area, the seemingly straightforward job turns increasingly sinister. With potential threats emerging around her, Jenny begins questioning who she can trust as the danger moves closer.
Blue Ice is producing the film, with Lance Samuels, Joan Waricha, Jane Stine and Garrard serving as executive producers. Dan Bernard, Yvonne Bernard, Tebogo Maila, Darren Cameron and Adam Friedlander are producing.
The Babysitter continues an expanding relationship between Stine and Tubi as the streamer builds a collection of original films based on the author’s work.
The latest announcement follows Tubi’s Pumpkinhead and its sequel, while another Stine adaptation, Afraid of Clowns, is also being prepared for a 2027 premiere.
Based on a story from Stine’s 1999 collection Nightmare Hour, Afraid of Clowns follows Frankie as she becomes suspicious of Ringmaster Rollo and a traveling troupe of clowns arriving in Redhaven — the same setting used in Pumpkinhead.
Their appearance may be connected to the disappearance of a child years earlier, and Frankie becomes convinced that her younger brother could be the troupe’s next target. She must convince her friends that something is wrong before Rollo and the clowns leave town.
Garrard is writing and directing Afraid of Clowns, with Frankie Honey, Ava Ferrer, Azriel Dalman, Joe Moore and RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 8 winner Jimbo among the cast.
Together, the projects point toward Tubi establishing a larger home for Stine adaptations beyond his best-known Goosebumps and Fear Street properties. Rather than concentrating solely on the author’s most recognizable titles, the streamer is reaching into other corners of his bibliography for stories capable of being reworked as standalone horror features.
The Babysitter is particularly suited to that approach. Its combination of threatening phone calls, an isolated teenage protagonist and uncertainty surrounding the identity of the threat draws from classic babysitter-in-peril horror while carrying the youth-oriented suspense associated with Stine’s work.
Casting and a specific premiere date have not yet been announced.
R.L. Stine’s The Babysitter is scheduled to premiere on Tubi in 2027.
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