Don Cheadle-Led Sci-Fi Series in Development at Jeffrey Katzenberg’s Quibi Streaming Service

A new sci-fi drama series starring Don Cheadle, Emily Mortimer (“Mary Poppins Returns”) and Helena Howard is in development for Quibi, Jeffrey Katzenberg’s upcoming streaming service, the company announced on Wednesday morning.

Details are sparse, but the show, “Don’t Look Deeper,” will be centered on a California high school senior that finds out she’s not human — a revelation that will ultimately put her life in danger. Howard, who starred in “Madeline’s Madeline” last year, is set to co-star in the role. Twilight” and “Lords of Dogtown” director Catherine Hardwicke will both direct and executive produce the series.

Former “NCIS: New Orleans” showrunner Jeffrey Lieber is attached as writer, executive producer and showrunner for the project. Charlie McDonnell will also write and serve as EP for the show.

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The series will be co-produced by New Form and 30 Ninjas for Quibi. New Form’s Kathleen Grace and Laura Schwartz, along with Jed Weintrob and Julina Tatlock from 30 Ninjas, will be executive producers for the show.

Set for a Spring 2020 launch, Quibi is banking on short-form content between 7-10 minutes long to attract viewers in an increasingly crowded content space. With $1 billion in funding from big-name investors like Disney and Viacom, CEO Meg Whitman and Katzenberg have started to order series to fill the platform, including a series based on the rise of Snapchat — a show Katzenberg compared to its own version of “The Social Network.”

“This is a completely new platform, with a completely new opportunity to tell stories in a different format,” Whitman said this past weekend while speaking at the 2019 Produced By Conference. “People are watching up to 60 minutes a day of video on their phones, and that figure is only going to get bigger with the arrival of 5G.”