Horror filmmaker and musician, Rob Zombie, has taken to social media to show off the street sign for the fictional Mockingbird Lane. The street is otherwise known as the home of The Munsters, Universal’s classic monster family TV series. Zombie is hard at work on the first feature film adaptation of the IP since 1966’s Munster, Go Home!, and the process involves rebuilding the famed Munsters home as well as the Mockingbird Heights neighborhood.
Previously described by Zombie as a project he’s been chasing for 20 years, a feature film adaptation of The Munsters isn’t exactly on everyone’s radar. The series, though successful in its day, ultimately came to a short but sweet end in 1966 after just two seasons. Nonetheless, the series continued to thrive in syndication as well as releasing several straight-to-video or made-for-TV movies. There is certainly a dedicated fanbase for the series, despite it often being overshadowed by the more familiar The Addams Family, which had the same initial two-year run as The Munsters, but which also returned several times over the years since and found moderate success with a live-action film franchise that culminated in 1993.
To date, Zombie has been very good at keeping fans informed as to the progress of The Munsters, with numerous photos and behind-the-scenes glimpses at the film’s set provided via his Instagram account. Filming on The Munsters is taking place in Hungary, and the entire Mockingbird Heights neighborhood has been constructed there as well. The most recent look at the film’s progress once again comes from Zombie's Instagram, with the filmmaker posing next to the Mockingbird Lane street sign:
With everything that’s gone into getting The Munsters off the ground so far, it does appear that Zombie is really going all out on this project. That makes sense, given the filmmaker’s fondness for the original series. At the same time, however, diehard fans of The Munsters could be forgiven for being somewhat nervous over how Zombie’s adaptation will turn out. As a filmmaker, Zombie’s track record is less than impressive, and the fact that his films find their greatest amount of appreciation as niche horror offerings is charming enough, but not the sort of reception that a modern-day adaptation of The Munsters requires.
But of course, simply because Zombie’s past offerings haven’t been everyone’s cup of tea does not mean he’s incapable of making a hit adaptation of The Munsters. It’s precisely because The Munsters isn’t a niche horror concept that Zombie has a chance to take his filmmaking somewhere new. There’s no question that an IP as old as The Munsters is has a dedicated fanbase who only want the best for it, and Zombie undoubtedly considers himself a part of this fanbase. Ultimately, this could be what takes the film to the next level, delivering something for fans and Zombie alike that gives the franchise a new direction.
Source: Rob Zombie