Happy Wednesday, my fellow strangers!
It’s Mrs. Strange back again.
On today’s episode for Stranger Universe, I will go over the Duffer Brothers and Netflix
officially announcing brand new Stranger Things projects, including a spin-off and a stage
play!
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This exclusive breaking news comes from the industry outlet Deadline.
Following the record-breaking release of the two final episodes of Stranger Things 4, creators
Matt & Ross Duffer have formed Upside Down Pictures and recommitted to Netflix with several
new projects.
The production company is of course named after the alternate dimension in the world
of Stranger Things.
To run Upside Down, they’ve hired Hilary Leavitt, a vet of BBC America and MRC who
most recently ran her own Hulu-based Blazer banner.
The Duffers will continue to lean into the formula that has been a propulsive force in
Stranger Things.
The brothers said the new company will be guided by the goal to create the kind of stories
that inspired them 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.”
While their first order of business will be settling the epic good vs evil battle between
Eleven and Vecna in Stranger Things‘ final season, the Duffers and Netflix have expanded
their slate of projects for the future.
These projects now include:
A series adaptation of Stephen King and Peter Straub‘s 1984 novel The Talisman which the
Duffers will craft alongside Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and Paramount Television.
Created by Stranger Things’ Co-EP and writer Curtis Gwinn, The Talisman tells the story
of a young man who moves between New Hampshire and an alternate world called ‘The Territories’
to obtain an artifact that will save his mother’s life.
You might also remember The Talisman as the book that Lucas Sinclair was reading to Max
Mayfield in the epilogue of season 4.
Another project in development is a new stage play set within the world and mythology of
Stranger Things, produced by prolific UK-based stage producer Sonia Friedman, Stephen Daldry
and Netflix.
Daldry, whose credits include The Crown, Billy Elliot and The Reader, will also direct.
21 Laps will serve as Associate Producer.
The other brand new Stranger Things project is the aforementioned live-action spin-off
series for Netflix, based on an original idea by The Duffer Brothers, with Upside Down and
21 Laps producing.
We previously talked about this spin-off last night, and it’s easy to assume that this
show will begin production after season 5 comes out.
Upside Down is also producing a new live action adaptation of Death Note, the Japanese manga
and anime series originally written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata.
The original focuses on a bright teenager named Light Yagami who discovers a mysterious
black notebook that gives him supernatural power over life and death, the latter caused
by writing a person’s name in the book.
Light becomes intoxicated with power as he decides to cleanse the world of undesirables,
as a law enforcement team tries to stop him.
Netflix made a film adaptation back in 2017, which has tarnished the brand and was regarded
as one of the worse anime live action adaptations, but this will be an entirely new take.
Out of all the projects in development with Upside Down, this is by far the biggest surprise
since it’s an entirely different IP from Stranger Things, and they’re both nothing
unlike with the exception of horror elements.
With that said, all of this sounds very promising.
This comes after Stranger Things season 4 topped Netflix’s all-time most popular English
TV list with 1.15 billion hours viewed in its first 28 days, making it only the second
series to cross the billion mark for the streamer.
That number will be higher when the two Volume 2 season ender episodes are counted when they
reach the 28-day viewing period.
Season 4 became the biggest premiere weekend ever for an English language TV show on Netflix
with 286.79 million hours viewed.
It also hit the top spot in 91 countries for the streamer, and became the most viewed season
of English language TV in a single week for Netflix with 335.01 million hours viewed.
Right now, the Duffers are taking a few weeks off before they begin writing the final season
of Stranger Things in August.
They told Deadline that a major goal is to “stick the landing” with the final 20
minutes they have already mapped out.
We hope that they nail all of these projects as well as the conclusion to the Stranger
Things saga.
Overall, very exciting times.
And that is all that we have for today.
Are you excited for all of these new Stranger Things projects?
Today’s special shout-out is for Isaac Adarsh!
Comment down below to become our next special Stranger Universe shout out, and don’t forget
to follow us at @ struniverse on Twitter and Instagram to stay updated with us every day.
Also, don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe to Stranger Universe!
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This episode was brought to you by Mrs. Strange, and this is Stranger Universe.