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The folks at Deadline have the exclusive news that Netflix have definitely decided that the Stranger Things duo of the Duffer Brothers are someone they want to stay in business with. With the fourth season doing huge numbers and crossing the billion hours mark in just 28 days – the second series for Netflix to do so, Matt and Ross Duffer have set up their own production company with Upside Down Pictures that has set a deal with Netflix for several projects. They’ve got a former BBC America and MRC vet with Hilary Leavitt to run it and she’s got some great credits on the development side in helping shows like Ozark and The Great come to fruition.
The new shingle has a lot of things that they want to get underway which according to deadline include:
- A new live-action series 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 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. The teen 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 in 2017, but this will be an entirely new take.
- An original series from creators Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews (Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance).
- 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.
- 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 aforementioned live-action Stranger Things spin-off series for Netflix, based on an original idea by The Duffer Brothers, with Upside Down and 21 Laps producing.
