The TV channel FX has officially ordered the new Very Young Frankenstein series, as inspired by the Mel Brooks film, Young Frankenstein, from 1974, which starred Gene Wilder, Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Richard Haydn, and Gene Hackman, as loosely based on the Mary Shelley novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus.
The updated series is set to star Zach Galifianakis, Dolly Wells and Spencer House, alongside Nikki Crawford, Kumail Nanjiani, and Cary Elwes.
Very Young Frankenstein was initially announced in 2025, with the pilot episode being ordered. Stefani Robinson has writing and production credits on the show, the latter shared with Taika Waititi, who directed the pilot, and Garrett Basch, with the trio reuniting after working together on FX’s What We Do in the Shadows. It has also been confirmed original director, Brooks, holds executive producer credits with Kevin Salter and Michael Gruskoff.
Despite minimal plot details so far, President of FX Entertainment Nick Grad has stated, “Very Young Frankenstein blends inspiration from the fan-favourite movie with the inventive, irreverent spirit that has defined FX comedies over the years, making this a completely original take on the classic story.”
Grad also expressed that given the talented and committed team as aforementioned behind the project, he is well aware that the “fans [of the original film] will have as much fun watching this series as we’re having making it.”
A spoof of the classic horror films from the 1940s and 1950s, Brooks’s original film centred on Wilder’s role as a descendant of the talented yet derranged scientist Victor Frankenstein, who discovers a secret book holding his grandfather’s dark experiments in an inherited castle and sets out on recreating them. The film is ranked among America’s greatest comedies, having grossed $83.42 million more than its initial budget of $2.78 million and earning a Rotten Tomatoes score of 95% from 73 critics and appearing on many Top Films lists.
The director also treasures the film, stating, “Young Frankenstein is by far the best movie I ever made. Not the funniest — Blazing Saddles [a 1974 Western] was the funniest, and hot on its heels would be The Producers [a 1967 black comedy]. But as a writer-director, it is by far my finest.”
Brooks is also due for work on a Spaceballs sequel.
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