Stranger Things creators and directors Matt and Ross Duffer have launched a new production company and revealed plans for streaming and stage spin-offs from the hit Netflix series.
The company, Upside Down Pictures, is in active development on a number of projects under the Duffer brothers’ overall deal with Netflix, though few details have been revealed.
A spin-off series from Stranger Things is based on an original idea by the Duffers and will be produced by Upside Down and 21 Laps, the company of Stranger Things executive producer Shawn Levy.
A stage play “set within the world and mythology of Stranger Things,” according to a Netflix statement, will be produced with Netflix by UK theatre names Sonia Friedman and Stephen Daldry. Daldry will also direct and 21 Laps will serve as associate producer.
Also in development are a series version of Stephen King and Peter Straub’s fantasy novel The Talisman, with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and Paramount Television and Stranger Things writer Curtis Gwinn as creator; a live-action TV adaptation of manga and anime series Death Note; and an original series from creators Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews.
Upside Down will be run by Hilary Leavitt, previously with BBC America and MRC, where she shepherded Netflix’s Ozark and Hulu’s The Great.
The fourth season of Stranger Things just became the most watched English TV series ever on Netflix, with 1.15bn hours of viewing in its first 28 days, according to the streaming company. The retro sci-fi show is only the second Netflix series - the first being Squid Game - to cross the billion hour viewing mark.
Commenting on the launch of Upside Down, Matt and Ross Duffer said the company will “aim to create the kind of stories that inspired the Duffers growing up - stories that take place at that beautiful crossroads where the ordinary meets the extraordinary, where big spectacle co-exists with intimate character work, where heart wins out over cynicism.”
Netflix co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos said: “Matt and Ross are an exceptionally unique talent with a vision so crisp and clear. They are all about the details - it’s no accident that Stranger Things has pierced the zeitgeist to become the epic pop culture phenomenon it is today. We’re excited to continue telling new stories with them as they grow Upside Down Pictures and to welcome Hilary as creative partner.”
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