Stranger Things put Matt and Ross Duffer on the map when the show originally hit Netflix in 2016. But as the series nears its endpoint, their future is looking brighter than ever. Deadline brings word that the Duffers are launching a new production company, Upside Down Pictures. Under this banner, the siblings will develop several projects for Netflix that range from new Stranger Things content to adaptations of other acclaimed works.
According to a new statement from the Duffers, Upside Down will create “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.”
The previously-announced Stranger Things spinoff will be one of the first new shows on Upside Down’s production slate. Earlier this week, the Duffers confirmed that they hadn’t officially pitched the new series to Netflix yet. But if it gets picked up (which seems more than likely at this point), the brothers will hand the creative reins to a different showrunner, who will develop the series based on the Duffers’ original premise. The siblings also hinted that the spinoff will feature a tone that’s “1000% different” from its parent series.
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Additionally, Upside Down is crafting a Stranger Things stage play with Stephen Daldry, the Oscar-nominated director of Billy Elliot and The Reader. Daldry was also the choice to direct Lucasfilm’s Obi-Wan Kenobi spinoff when it was still being developed as a film. He later ended up serving as a consulting producer on the Disney+ series. Legendary theatre producer Sonia Friedman is also working on the show with Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps Entertainment, which will associate produce.
Beyond the world of Stranger Things, the Duffers have other new shows on the docket as well. That includes their long-gestating adaptation of Stephen King and Peter Straub’s The Talisman. The brothers came aboard the series as executive producers last year. Steven Spielberg, who has held the novel’s rights since before it was published in 1984, is executive producing as well. Longtime Stranger Things scribe Curtis Gwinn will act as its primary showrunner.
Upside Down is also producing a new Death Note series, based on the Japanese manga by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. This version will be completely separate from Netflix’s 2017 film adaptation, which earned mostly negative reviews. Finally, the studio will develop an original series from Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews, who previously created Netflix’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
Which of the Duffers’ upcoming projects are you most excited to watch? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Stranger Things: The Other Side (Graphic Novel Volume 1)
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