‘Fred’ Movie Snatched Up By Nickelodeon

More news today in the ever evolving saga of web series star Fred and his Hollywood exploits as Fred: The Movie has been picked up by Nickelodeon. 16 year-old Fred creator and star Lucas Cruikshank is the titular protag in the comedy now headed for cable as a TV movie. Speculation of a theatrical release ended as this deal was announced, though as Variety reports, a sequel could head to theaters if it performs well on Nick.

Our coverage of this YouTuber Movie began as curiosity, as we caught their casting notice sneaking out on Breakdowns. As the story spread, then came speculation over which “cameo name” is playing Fred’s dad. And then somehow we found ourselves bargain hunting in Silver Lake with the film’s Art Department at 7 on a Sunday morning. For the record, we scored a bunch of props from this movie that we’ll give away at some point.

Fred surrendered the top spot on YouTube’s most subscribed channel’s list to nigahiga (Ryan Higa) in the later half of last year, but still firmly stands at number 2 with over 1.6 million subscribers. His videos still crank out over 4 million views a piece, though the frequency has decreased in recent months. Part of that may have to do with his gradual transition to a career beyond YouTube and its tightknit community of star creators—a move not too surprising considering Cruikshank is repped by Hollywood management firm The Collective and talent agency UTA.

The movie has a reported $1 million budget, and is directed by music video director Clay Weiner off a script from David Goodman.