Joey Graceffa is bringing Escape the Night “back from the dead.” Graceffa, who reaches nearly ten million subscribers on his namesake YouTube channel, has launched an Indiegogo campaign to finance a film adaptation of his mysterious franchise.
Escape The Night first premiered in 2016 as one of the flagship original programs on the subscription service then known as YouTube Red. Across four seasons, Escape The Night established several qualities that have become its hallmarks: Star-studded, YouTuber-packed casts, era-specific settings, and a dense story filled with twists, betrayals, and rich lore.
Over its original four-season run, Escape The Night became a fan favorite. It earned 12 Streamy Award nominations between 2016 and 2019 and earned four trophies for its cast and crew over that span. But as YouTube Red became YouTube Premium and resources shifted, Escape The Night got the axe.
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Post-cancellation, the rights to the show reverted to Graceffa, and he took them to Indiegogo. He is hoping to raise $250,000 to fund a movie version of his whodunit tale. In an introductory video, he explained that the length of the film will depend on the amount raised. If the campaign reaches its full goal, Graceffa plans to produce an 84-minute feature.
Graceffa hasn’t shared specific casting choices for the film, but the project’s Indiegogo page notes that backers can expect “some familiar faces” to show up. “This movie is going to have every single thing that you loved about the first four seasons of Escape the Night,” Graceffa said. “It’s going to have YouTubers, but we’re also going to mix in some traditional talent to really elevate performances and make it feel like it’s a full-blown movie.”
Hours after its launch, the Escape The Night campaign has already raised more than $20,000. Comments on Graceffa’s intro video have shown that there’s still plenty of enthusiasm for the franchise even if it’s been years since new episodes were released.
This is not Graceffa’s first experience with a crowdfunding campaign. Early in his YouTube career, he turned to Kickstarter to finance a project called Storytellers, which eventually ran for multiple seasons. Years later, the now-32-year-old creator raised more than $120,000 on Indiegogo to develop a board game inspired by Escape The Night.
Those projects helped Graceffa become one of the most popular YouTube stars of the 2010s. The next chapter of Escape The Night will add to his legacy — so long as it gets the backing it needs.
