'Stranger Things' creators, the Duffer Brothers, ink 4-year deal with Paramount Skydance
The Duffer Brothers, the creative team of Matt and Ross Duffer, signed an exclusive four-year agreement with Paramount, newly merged with Skydance, for feature films, television and streaming projects.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Duffer Brothers' contract with Netflix ends in April 2026. Upon that closure, Upside Down Pictures, led by the brothers and producing partner Hilary Leavitt, will begin developing projects for Paramount Pictures, Paramount Television and Paramount direct-to-consumer.
"We couldn't be more thrilled to be joining the Paramount family," Matt and Ross Duffer said in a joint statement Tuesday, adding that "bringing bold, original films to the big screen ... is not just exciting – it's the fulfillment of a lifelong dream."
The Duffer Brothers are best known for "Stranger Things," a sci-fi horror series which is set to stream its fifth and final season on Netflix later this fall. The pair also wrote and directed the 2015 psychological thriller film "Hidden" and were involved in the production of "Wayward Pines," which ran on Fox for two seasons starting in 2015.
The pair has two projects in the works for Netflix — "Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen" and "The Boroughs" — and plans to build out the "Stranger Things" franchise. The brothers said they will remain involved with Netflix for those projects.
The deal with the Duffer Brothers comes shortly after Paramount officially merged with Skydance. Chairman and CEO David Ellison said in an open letter earlier this month that the company would invest in "high-quality storytelling and cutting-edge technology" to help "define the next era of entertainment."
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