M. Night Shyamalan and Brad Falchuk are developing a live-action scripted series centered on Mattel’s Magic 8 Ball with Mattel Studios.
Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense,” “Split,” “Signs”) will serve as director, co-creator and co-showrunner for the series while Falchuk (“Glee,” “American Horror Story,” “Pose”) serves as writer, co-creator and co-showrunner. The series aims to reimagine the classic Magic 8 Ball as the “centerpiece of a high-concept, character-driven supernatural drama that blends psychological intensity with cultural intrigue,” per the official logline.
Shyamalan and Mattel revealed their plans for the series on Instagram on Monday by sharing a photo of the pilot script, written by Falchuk and directed by Shyamalan. “Been working on this for a couple years … Who’s in?” Shyamalan wrote in the caption.
The new project marks a return to TV for Shyamalan, who previously executive produced “Servant” and “Wayward Pines,” and directed five episodes of the former and one of the latter. Shyamalan teams up with TV veteran Falchuk, who created “9-1-1,” “Pose,” “Glee,” “The Politician” and “American Horror Stories” alongside Ryan Murphy.
There is no distribution partner attached to the series at the moment.
The Magic 8 Ball series marks the latest Mattel property being adapted to the screen following the unprecedented success of “Barbie” in July 2023. Since then, Mattel has developed a handful projects across its toys, including a Polly Pocket live-action feature film with Hello Sunshine and Amazon MGM Studios with Lily Collins attached to star, an animated TV series featuring Pingu and a live-action scripted television show based on Shani, among others.
The Magic 8 Ball, which was first created in 1946, averages 1 million units sold annually.
