The Duffer Brothers, a creative team composed of Matt and Ross Duffer, have established Upside Down Pictures, a new production business, as part of their overall contract with Netflix. Upside Down Pictures will develop motion picture and television projects. This announcement coincides with the debut of a new Stranger Things stage production and spin-off television series.
Hilary Leavitt, a former employee of BBC America and MRC who currently oversees Hulu’s Blazer production label and has also contributed to the creation of various successful programmes including as Orphan Black, Ozark, The Great, and Shining Girls, will be in charge of the business.
The business will attempt to create “stories that take place at that lovely crossroads where the ordinary meets the exceptional, where great spectacle coexists with intimate character work, where heart wins out over cynicism,” according to the brothers.
The production company’s first task will be working on the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, but after that, they’ll be working on a ton of new Stranger Things-related ideas, including a new stage play set within the world and mythology of Stranger Things produced by prolific U.K.-based stage producer Sonia Friedman, Stephen Daldry, and Netflix. It’s unclear where and when the stage play will take place, so fans may have to wait a bit for more information.
In addition to the stage play, Upside Down will collaborate with 21 Laps to produce the previously announced Stranger Things spin-off series for Netflix. The Duffer Brothers have previously stated that the spin-off will be “1000 percent different” from the original series and most likely won’t have any relation to the original characters, albeit it is currently unknown exactly what the spin-off will consist of.
