'Black Mirror: Bandersnatch' Will Be A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Movie With 5 Hours Of Footage
Netflix is preparing a belated Christmas present with the slow unveiling of the highly anticipated Black Mirror movie, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. We're steadily learning more about this mystery Black Mirror project, which has already been reported to be a choose-your-own-adventure movie. Now, new reports suggest that this movie could contain about five hours worth of footage, which we could see as soon as this week.
The official Bandersnatch landing page is now live on Netflix, suggesting that the choose-your-own-adventure movie would drop before the end of the year, reportedly offering roughly 312 minutes of footage, which is over five hours.
A new leak (via Esquire) from the Korean Media Rating Board appears to confirm the plot and cast of the film, which is due to be released on December 28, 2018. It will not be connected to Black Mirror season 5, which is expected in drop in early 2019.
While 312 minutes of footage seems excessive, it does confirm early reports that an interactive Black Mirror project was in the works. On the Netflix page, some subscribers are getting a 2 minute runtime for the project while others are seeing a runtime of 90 minutes. The latter is more likely: a 90-minute official runtime with 312 minutes of choose-your-own-adventure possibilities.
The movie's alleged official plot description reads:
"A young programmer makes a fantasy novel into a game. Soon, reality and virtual world are mixed and start to create confusion."
A new image from the film has also been leaked, showing Will Poulter, Dunkirk breakout Fionn Whitehead, and Asim Chaudhr as the main cast of the sci-fi film that David Slade is confirmed to direct. Slade makes a return to the Black Mirror franchise after directing the season 4 episode "Metalhead," and has helmed films like Hard Candy and 30 Days of Nights. He has also directed episodes of Breaking Bad, Hannibal, and American Gods.
The image and leaked details appear to confirm the '80s setting of Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, which aligns with fan theories that Bandersnatch would be set in the world of video games. "Bandersnatch" is the name of a video game listed in the season 3 episode "Playtest," and was also the title of a real-life video game developed by Imagine Software in 1984 that was never released to the public. The word itself comes from the Lewis Carroll book Alice in Wonderland, one of the foremost stories about the blurring between fantasy and reality.
But it should be noted that Netflix has not confirmed any of these details. But keep an eye on that landing page for when Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is expected to debut on December 28, 2018.