"Bat Boy" TV Series in Works

Favorite tabloid anomaly "Bat Boy" is poised to be the star of his own live-action TV series.

Netflix is developing "Bat Boy", a YA horror-comedy from Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Riverdale, Pretty Little Liars: Summer School) and Joe Tracz (One Piece, Dash & Lily).

The character of Bat Boy — the half-bat, half-boy who became infamous for his cover stories in the supermarket publication Weekly World News in the ’90s — previously was brought to life in the Off-Broadway show Bat Boy: The Musical which premiered in Los Angeles in 1997. 

The stage production has no connection to the contemporary TV reimagination.

In the coming-of-age series adaptation, the titular character is a teen named Bobby Bates. With the help of fellow teens Charisma and her weird sister Olive, Bobby re-enters mainstream society after living in seclusion on the outskirts in the remnants of a long-dissipated carnival. When Bobby enrolls at Cypressville High, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery while attempting to find his place among his new peers and society and trying to solve a mystery bubbling up from the Florida swamps. All that while rocking his half-bat-like features like sharp teeth and pointy ears — oh, there’s also the small matter of his need for human blood. Think, Edward Scissorhands meets Nightmare Alley-ish.

Aguirre-Sacasa (via Muckle Man Productions and its overall deal with WBTV) and Tracz will executive produce Bat Boy alongside Jimmy Gibbons for Muckle Man Productions, and Weekly World News CEO/Editor-in-Chief Greg D’Alessandro.