The newly merged Paramount has just turned Netflix‘s world upside down. The entertainment conglomerate, which just completed a lengthy deal with Skydance, has signed Ross and Matt Duffer, the horror impresarios behind rival Netflix‘s Stranger Things, to a four-year mega-deal. According to reports, the deal covers feature films, television, and streaming projects. However, Stranger Things and all of its in-development spin-offs will stay under the Netflix umbrella. An advantage of a deal with Paramount, unlike their former abode Netflix, is that Paramount will release films on the big screen; an aversion to movie theaters has been a defining aspect of Netflix‘s current regime, with even their most high-profile original titles receiving only a token run on the silver screen.
This was made implicit in the Duffers’ statement, which specifically calls out Paramount’s David Ellison, Josh Greenstein, and Dana Goldberg: “We couldn’t be more thrilled to be joining the Paramount family. David, Josh, and Dana are passionate about bringing bold, original films to the big screen. To be part of that mission is not just exciting – it’s the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. And to do so at a studio with such a storied Hollywood legacy is a privilege we don’t take lightly.” However, the brotherly duo did note that their projects that are already in the works at Netflix will remain there: not only Stranger Things and its spin-offs, but Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, a wedding-set horror series, and The Boroughs, a science fiction series set in a retirement community.
Who Are the Duffer Brothers?
Identical twins from Durham, North Carolina, Matt and Ross Duffer produced a number of short horror films before making the feature-length post-apocalyptic horror film Hidden in 2015; starring Alexander Skarsgård and Andrea Riseborough, it had a limited release, but earned solid notices from critics. They were subsequently hired to work on the Chad Hodges/M. Night Shyamalan Fox mystery series Wayward Pines, which served as a springboard to pitch Stranger Things to Netflix. The 1980s-set horror/science fiction series, which explored supernatural goings-on in a small Indiana town through the eyes of a group of pre-teens, turned into a massive hit, becoming one of Netflix’s signature series.
Even with the Duffers having left the nest, Stranger Things‘ fifth and final eight-episode season is set to premiere on Netflix this November and December. The series’ surviving regulars are all back, with The Terminator‘s Linda Hamilton set to join them in an as-yet unspecified role.
Matt and Ross Duffer have signed a four-year deal with Paramount.
via Collider