Paramount CEO David Ellison said last week he wanted to restore the company’s place as the top destination for “the most talented artists and filmmakers in the world.” On Tuesday, he took a big step in that direction.
Matt and Ross Duffer, the creators of “Stranger Things,” left Netflix and joined New Paramount, signing a wide-ranging four-year, exclusive deal for feature films, television and streaming projects, the company announced. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The deal, which has the brothers jumping over from their cushy position at Netflix to Paramount next year, represents the latest splashy signing from the media company, signaling a willingness to bet big on talent. This follows the news that the studio signed up Timothée Chalamet and director James Mangold for a motorcross heist film — on Day 1 of the merger.
Taken together, these signings are the first indication that Ellison’s ambitions aren’t empty words, and that Paramount’s plans under the new leadership are to be taken seriously. They also show the strength of the relationships that the new leadership team can rely on with Cindy Holland heading up Paramount’s direct-to-consumer business. She greenlit “Stranger Things” when she was an executive at Netflix.
The brothers will work with Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg, who are vice chair of platforms and chair of Paramount Television, respectively, and co-chairs of Paramount Pictures — as well as with Matt Thunell, president of Paramount Television, who also worked with the Duffers at Netflix.
“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,” the Duffers said in a statement.
“And to do so at a studio with such a storied Hollywood legacy is a privilege we don’t take lightly. We’re also excited to reunite with our friends Cindy and Matt, who were among the very first to believe in us and an unusual little script we wrote that became ‘Stranger Things.’ They took a chance on us in 2015, and they’re taking a chance again – we can’t wait to create new stories together.”
Once at Paramount, the Duffer brothers will create, write, direct and produce feature films, television and original streaming series for Paramount Pictures, Paramount Television and Paramount Direct-to-Consumer. These projects will be developed through their production company, Upside Down Pictures, led by the brothers and their producing partner and president of the company, Hilary Leavitt.
“We have seen firsthand their extraordinary creative vision and exceptional gift for storytelling,” Holland said. “We couldn’t be more excited to reunite and welcome them to Paramount.”
The deal offered the one thing Netflix couldn’t give: the ability to write, produce and direct large-scale wide theatrical films. Even in the era of streaming dominance, that remains an alluring benefit.
“It shows that theatrical distribution is still very important to creatives,” an independent film producer told TheWrap, noting the brothers were willing to make this deal now despite the time left on their contract with Netflix, which runs through April.
A good fit
Another film producer who wished not to be named praised the move as a good place for the Duffer brothers. “There’s a clear convergence between what Paramount wants to make and what the Duffers do,” the producer said.
While “Stranger Things” and its related spinoffs will remain with Netflix, the Duffers could see success if their next project tapped into the same kind of sensibilities as the monster hit.
“Stranger Things” harkens back to films like “Gremlins,” which both appealed to kids but had a scary element that made them more universally entertaining.
They are, perhaps not coincidentally, exactly what Goldberg called out during a roundtable with reporters last week. In talking about the films she wanted to see Paramount produce, she specifically called out “four quadrant family movies” such as “Goonies,” “Gremlins” and “Night at the Museum.”
The theatrical film opportunity was the lynchpin to getting the Duffer brothers to make their move. Filmmakers like Rian Johnson, Guillermo del Toro and Greta Gerwig have landed lucrative deals with Netflix and then struggled with the streamer over theatrical exhibition, with more directors willing to leave behind a richer deal with the streamer in exchange for an actual theatrical run. Look no further than Emerald Fennell, who took her new version of “Wuthering Heights” to Warner Bros. after being courted by Netflix.
When the Duffer brothers were starting out, they wrote and directed a low-budget horror film called “Hidden” that starred Alexander Skarsgård and Andrea Riseborough. It was a solid little thriller, but Warner Bros. was mystified by “Hidden” and the movie sat on the shelf for years, eventually released direct-to-video.
That means that the first feature for Paramount will also be their first theatrical release. And that goes a long way – especially for filmmakers who were raised on the moviegoing history and who have helped shape their series as a nearly big-screen experience. Season 3 had a subplot about a movie theater in a local mall. And Season 4 had episodes so gargantuan that they were practically movies. Now is their chance to – finally – make movies that will be seen in theaters.
A lot left at Netflix
What makes the Duffer brothers’ jump to Paramount striking is that they were deeply involved with Netflix and the world of “Stranger Things.” In addition to the fifth and final season of the Netflix series, which is ending over the course of the holidays this year (with batches of episodes premiering on Thanksgiving and Christmas and the series finale streaming on New Year’s Eve), the Duffers, via their Upside Down Pictures production shingle, had a number of spinoffs and follow-ups in the works.
“We’re excited to continue collaborating – not only on the upcoming release of ‘Stranger Things 5,’ but also on shows we’re deeply proud to be producing, including ‘Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen’ and ‘The Boroughs,’” they said in their statement. “And we look forward to building out the future of ‘Stranger Things’ together – there are many more stories to tell beyond Hawkins, and we can’t wait to share them.”
A Netflix spokesman did not respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Earlier this year, at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the first footage from “Stranger Things: Tales from ’85” was revealed. Set to debut on Netflix in 2026, the series is a throwback to the Saturday morning cartoons of the Duffers’ childhood, which were based on preexisting properties but made all their own, like “Beetlejuice” or “The Real Ghostbusters.”
Matt described the project as “nostalgic but will work for younger audiences.” “Tales from ‘85” is set between Season 2 and 3 of the mainline series and will feature all the characters from the show. It is brought to life in a peppy, colorful 3D-animated art style. And that isn’t even the last animated thing the Duffers are working on in the “Stranger Things” universe; an anime series, set in Tokyo, is also in the works. Insiders told TheWrap it will be on the service in 2027.
Additionally, there will be a live-action spinoff, which the Duffers recently said had been cracked by “Stranger Things” actor Finn Wolfhard. Ross said, “Nobody — not Netflix, not any of the producers, not any of the directors, not any of the actors — nobody else has figured out what the spinoff is. Finn figured out, which is pretty remarkable.” As for what the idea was, Wolfhard said he described an anthology series, set in different places and loosely connected by “the mythology of the Upside Down,” the eerie netherworld explored in the mainline series.
There are also projects like “Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” which premiered in December 2023 in the West End and is currently on Broadway. A prequel story about the kids’ parents as teenagers, it is full of wizardly stagecraft and nicely recontextualizes the world of the show. (Our review described it as a mash-up of “Grease” and Stephen King.) Netflix has also recently made noise about further “Stranger Things” video games; the consumer products and brand partnerships element of the “Stranger Things” phenomenon cannot be overstated.
There are also the pair of Upside Down Pictures projects that have nothing to do with “Stranger Things.” “The Boroughs,” set for release on Netflix in 2026, has been described as “Stranger Things” in a New Mexico retirement community, starring Bill Pullman, Geena Davis, Alfre Woodard and Alfred Molina. There is also “Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen,” also set for 2026, a horror series starring Camila Morrone, Adam DiMarco and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
So the Duffer brothers aren’t done with Netflix quite yet.
Roger Cheng contributed to this article.
