Duffer Brothers Launch Upside Down Pictures, Plan Stranger Things Spin-Off And Stage Play

Who needs rest? Not the Duffer Brothers, that's for sure. The duo only just finished post-production on "Stranger Things" season 4 and are about to start working on the show's fifth and final season. In the meantime, they're launching their own production shingle in the form of Upside Down Pictures, taking its name from the creepy, blue-lit alternate dimension in their mega-popular Netflix series. Overseeing this operation is Hilary Leavitt, an executive who has helped develop such hit shows as "Orphan Black" and "Ozark" in the past. Most recently, she worked on Hulu's "The Great" and the Apple TV+ series "Shining Girls."

In a statement published by Deadline, the Duffer Brothers said their goal is for Upside Down Pictures to focus on telling "stories that take place at that beautiful crossroads where the ordinary meets the extraordinary, where big spectacle co-exists with intimate character work, where heart wins out over cynicism."

That includes a previously-announced Netflix series based on Stephen King and Peter Straub's 1984 novel, "The Talisman," which the Duffers are working on with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and Paramount Television, as well as an as-yet-untitled "Stranger Things" spinoff show. Unexpectedly, however, they're also now confirmed to be moving forward with a stage play based on "Stranger Things," which is the first we've heard of such a project.

The "Stranger Things" stage play is described as being "set within the world and mythology of 'Stranger Things'" and will be produced by U.K. theater producer Sonia Friedman, Stephen Daldry, and Netflix. Daldry will also direct the play, having previously won Tony Awards for his direction on "An Inspector Calls," "Billy Elliot: The Musical," and "The Inheritance." He's also known for helming the original film version of "Billy Elliot," as well as the Oscar-winning dramas "The Hours" and "The Reader" and multiple episodes of "The Crown."

As for the "Stranger Things" spin-off show, all we really know for now is that it's based on an original idea by the Duffer Brothers. The siblings have voiced a desire to "pass the baton to someone else, someone who's hopefully really talented and passionate" to run the series while they focus on the other 500 million projects they've only just added to their to-do list. Amusingly, the Duffers have also admitted "Stranger Things" star Finn Wolfhard was able to correctly guess what the show is about, despite their insistence it's "very, very different" than most people would expect.

What does that mean? Are we getting a prequel series about Eddie Munson's run as a guitar player with his band Corroded Coffin? A show about Erica Sinclair opening her own private agency where she investigates paranormal mysteries linked to the Upside Down? Some other idea that I would be all-onboard for but is probably never going to happen? Keep it tuned to /Film in the future to find out!