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Duffer Brothers launch new production studio 'Upside Down Pictures' - ‘Stranger Things’ spinoff, live-action 'Death Note' series etc.

DinkyDev

DinkyDev

Member
Feb 5, 2021
5,152
Following the record-breaking release of the two final episodes of Stranger Things' Season 4, creators Matt & Ross Duffer have formed Upside Down Pictures and recommitted to Netflix with several new projects. To run Upside Down, they've hired Hilary Leavitt, a vet of BBC America and MRC who most recently ran her own Hulu-based Blazer banner. Series she helped develop include Orphan Black, Ozark, The Great and Shining Girls.
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Borrowing the company name from their juggernaut series, The Duffers will continue to lean into the formula that has been a propulsive force in Stranger Things. The brothers said the new company will be guided by the goal to create the kind of stories that inspired them growing up, "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."
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The projects:
While their first order of business will be settling the epic good vs evil battle between Eleven and Vecna in Stranger Things' final season, the Duffers and Netflix have expanded their slate of projects for the future. They now include:
  • A new live action series adaptation of Death Note, the Japanese manga and anime series originally written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. The original focuses on a bright teenager who discovers a mysterious black notebook that gives him supernatural power over life and death, the latter caused by writing a person's name in the book. The teen becomes intoxicated with power as he decides to cleanse the world of undesirables, as a law enforcement team tries to stop him. Netflix made a film adaptation in 2017, but this will be an entirely new take.
  • An original series from creators Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews (Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance).
  • A series adaptation of Stephen King and Peter Straub's 1984 novel The Talisman which the Duffers will craft alongside Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and Paramount Television. Created by Stranger Things' Co-EP and writer Curtis Gwinn, The Talisman tells the story of a young man who moves between New Hampshire and an alternate world called 'The Territories' to obtain an artifact that will save his mother's life. While The Talisman shares otherworldly qualities with Stranger Things, "It's much more fantasy. It has sci-fi. It has horror elements. It has a lot of heart. It has everything that we love. And it's got the best werewolf character I think, ever," Matt Duffer told Deadline in yesterday's in-depth interview.
  • A new stage play set within the world and mythology of Stranger Things, produced by prolific UK-based stage producer Sonia Friedman, Stephen Daldry and Netflix. Daldry, whose credits include The Crown, Billy Elliot and The Reader, will also direct. 21 Laps will serve as Associate Producer.
  • The aforementioned live-action Stranger Things spin-off series for Netflix, based on an original idea by The Duffer Brothers, with Upside Down and 21 Laps producing.
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deadline.com

Duffer Brothers Launch Netflix Shingle Upside Down Pictures; ‘Stranger Things’ Spinoff & Stephen Daldry-Helmed Stage Play Coming Along With Manga ‘Death Note’ & Stephen King/Peter Straub ‘The Talisman’ Series

Stranger Things' Duffer Brothers Netflix Shingle Upside Down Pictures Stranger Things Spinoff Stephen Daldry Play Death Note The Talisman
deadline.com deadline.com
 
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Kalentan

Kalentan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,729
I'm nervous about the Death Note adaption... But hell, whatever no point getting angry.
 
AuthenticM

AuthenticM

Son Altesse Sérénissime
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
30,142
hell yeah.

They should get Willem Dafoe back as Ryuk. No I don't care that it's a different adaptation; he was god-tier casting.
 
PimentaGui

PimentaGui

Member
Jul 29, 2021
527
Let the Duffer Brothers do whatever they want, Netflix!

I mean, there's no way this new death note series is worse them the movie so i'm down to it
 
Kalentan

Kalentan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,729
I know they didn't have the job of adapting a book series, but I feel like the Duffer Brothers are coming off as almost the Anti-D&D from Game of Thrones.
 
PlanetSmasher

PlanetSmasher

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Oct 25, 2017
115,933
Mariolee said:
They could "The Boys" it.

This is coming from me having never watched the OG anime.
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I don't really think it's possible to make an optimistic, non-cynical take on Death Note. The entire point of that series is that Light is a piece of shit, and basically just as evil as the "evil people" he considers himself a god for killing.
 
Ashes of Dreams

Ashes of Dreams

Unshakable Resolve
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May 22, 2020
14,522
I am very curious to see them try a live action Death Note. Surely the 4th time will be the charm.

(Japanese Movie Series, Japanese Live Action TV Series, American Movie - those are the three previous tries I'm referring to, in case anyone is curious, and yes I consider all of them bad)
 
SigmasonicX

SigmasonicX

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,528
Well, at least they probably won't make the same mistakes as the last US live action Death Note. It being a series alone is a big improvement. At the very least, I hope they realize that making Light a school shooter type isn't the right direction; he's an out of touch elite with a surface level understanding of what will make the world better and is really out to position himself as a god.

The other projects sound interesting. I'm glad they're making original stories too.
 
The Adder

The Adder

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,157
PlanetSmasher said:
I don't really think it's possible to make an optimistic, non-cynical take on Death Note. The entire point of that series is that Light is a piece of shit, and basically just as evil as the "evil people" he considers himself a god for killing.
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The optimistic take is that Light is a piece of shit, though. And the story falls firmly on that side.

The pessimistic take is that Light is right.
 
808s & Villainy

808s & Villainy

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Oct 27, 2017
42,705
  • A new live action series adaptation of Death Note, the Japanese manga and anime series originally written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. The original focuses on a bright teenager who discovers a mysterious black notebook that gives him supernatural power over life and death, the latter caused by writing a person's name in the book. The teen becomes intoxicated with power as he decides to cleanse the world of undesirables, as a law enforcement team tries to stop him. Netflix made a film adaptation in 2017, but this will be an entirely new take.
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Please just stop
 
digitalrelic

digitalrelic

Weight Loss Champion 2018: Biggest Change
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Oct 25, 2017
13,124
They've been great, but I really hope they move on to a new project after Stanger Things concludes. I hope their legacy isn't forever tied to one franchise.
 
Trey

Trey

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,036
PlanetSmasher said:
I don't really think it's possible to make an optimistic, non-cynical take on Death Note. The entire point of that series is that Light is a piece of shit, and basically just as evil as the "evil people" he considers himself a god for killing.
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more absolute power corrupts absolutely and no one man should have all that power, rather than Light himself being a piece a shit.

But totally agree there's no real optimistic take on the property without fundamentally changing it, and at that point why adapt it?
 
NoobSauceG7

NoobSauceG7

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Feb 7, 2022
1,533
Netflix is trying their hardest to make a decent live action adaption....maybe the SECOND one for Death Note could be alright, granted, Duffer Brothers have been very good so far.
 
Betty

Betty

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
17,604
If done right Death Note could be an all timer.

Just look at the previous Netflix film and avoid that (except for Dafoe as Ryuk)
 
Kalentan

Kalentan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,729
digitalrelic said:
They've been great, but I really hope they move on to a new project after Stanger Things concludes. I hope their legacy isn't forever tied to one franchise.
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While they will be working on the Spin Off (likely for story stuff and such), they did say they will be finding someone else to overall lead the project.
 
Kalor

Kalor

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Oct 25, 2017
19,631
Give me that original series from the Dark Crystal people. Or the Duffers can use their clout to get a season 2 made.
 
JurassicJack17

JurassicJack17

Member
Jun 22, 2021
2,807
When will people learn that making live action adaptations of anime doesn't work?

This will be bad, the One Piece live action will be dreadful, One Punch Man will be ridiculed hard and I have absolutely no fucking faith in Hollywood making a live action Your Name.

And yet despite that all these projects will bomb hard, Hollywood will not learn its lesson and will continue to produce these shitty live action adaptations.
 
Mesoian

Mesoian

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Oct 28, 2017
26,585
Netflix really gonna have 3 bad live action versions of Death Note on it huh?
 
Joshua

Joshua

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,738
Give us a Stranger Things follow-up in the 90's that leans on culture and nostalgia in the same way, please. Don't bring any characters back, they can leave the original show to stand on its own - new city, new mysteries, new emergence of the Upside Down. That's my 2 cents.
 
SoleSurvivor

SoleSurvivor

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,018
Start taking bets on who gets a spin-off.

I'm all in on a Surfer Boy Pizza sitcom.

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Trey

Trey

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,036
animes like death note are easily the most adaptable, honestly might work better in some ways as film. They don't rely as much on the medium as say, battle shonen.
 
808s & Villainy

808s & Villainy

Member
Oct 27, 2017
42,705
NoobSauceG7 said:
Netflix is trying their hardest to make a decent live action adaption....maybe the SECOND one for Death Note could be alright, granted, Duffer Brothers have been very good so far.
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Lol based on what. I see no evidence of effort

JurassicJack17 said:
When will people learn that making live action adaptations of anime doesn't work?
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There's nothing inherent about anime that makes it unadaptable. The issue is that the people doing so don't ever seem to understand what made the series what they are. Death Note should have been an easy adaptation. Same with Ghost in the Shell.
 

Deleted member 27921

User-requested account closure
Banned
Oct 30, 2017
1,735
mbpm said:
Nah to all this
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Agreed. I feel like Stranger Things was already overdone by the start of the third season but it seems like production companies can't just let a "franchise" die these days. Certainly do not need a "stage play" set in the Stranger Things universe.

and the live-action Death Note stuff .... Why.

But I cancelled my Netflix account last month anyway so this realistically doesn't affect me in any way. If people enjoy this stuff, more power to them.
 
Lvng

Lvng

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Nov 1, 2017
177
Part of me wondered if their take on Death Note could be a Stranger Things spin-off. A silly thought, but it might've been neat.
 
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