Ridley Scott is set to executive produce a thriller series for Quibi, Jeffrey Katzenberg’s upcoming mobile-only streaming service, the company announced on Wednesday morning.
The show, titled “CURS_R,” will focus on a broke student who looks to secure an unclaimed $100,000 prize by playing a strange 1980s survival computer game. The game soon curses her reality and leaves her with life-altering challenges to complete and terrifying choices to make. Eventually, after a number of scary moments, the heroine realizes she’s playing for her life, not a cash prize.
Anton, Simon Allen and Matthew James Wilkinson (Stigma Films) will join Scott as executive producers on the series. The show will be directed by Toby Meakins (“Bite Size Horror”) and is also being written by Allen “(The Watch”).
“With all of the many platforms on which one can now show content, including the groundbreaking new format at Quibi, this is an extraordinary time to be a filmmaker,” Scott said in a statement. “We are very much looking forward to working with Jeffrey Katzenberg and his Quibi team, as well as with these very talented filmmakers, Toby and Simon, to create a series that promises to break new boundaries in the horror genre.”
Anton’s CEO and founder Sebastien Raybaud added: “Simon and Toby are extraordinarily talented filmmakers and have proven success in the short-form horror genre. The visionary teams at Scott Free, Stigma Films, and Quibi will no doubt ensure a groundbreaking series.”
Stars for the series are yet to be disclosed.
Quibi, which is set to launch on April 6, 2020, has continued adding content at a blistering pace as the year comes to a close. Last week, Quibi added a show produced by Kris and Kendall Jenner to its slate, and recently had Bill Murray join Peter Farrelly’s comedy series “The Now,” where he’ll be featured in a recurring role opposite star Dave Franco.
The company, led by Katzenberg and CEO Meg Whitman, has spent much of 2019 greenlighting dozens of shows from a number of big stars, including Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Lopez, and Stephen Curry, among others. Los Angeles-based Quibi announced last month it had sold out its $150 million advertising inventory for its first year.
Quibi shows will only be available on mobile devices, with each episode running no longer than 10 minutes. The app will cost viewers $4.99 per month for ad-supported viewing, or run $7.99 for ad-free viewing when it debuts next spring.