Stranger Things: the spin-off arrives (but be careful not to overdo it)

Keeping a successful franchise alive is the strategy used by the main production companies to exploit the shock wave of hype for as long as possible, very often forgetting that squeezing too much on a product could dry out and dry it out. It happened with Star Wars, who is struggling not a little to find his identity after George Lucas has decided to entrust him for a millionaire sum to the care of Disney, and it could possibly also happen with Stranger Things, the most recognizable series in the Netflix catalog that the platform does not intend to let slip now that we are close to the fifth and final season. Strengthened by the very positive criticisms of Volume 2, the brothers Duffer have, in fact, announced five new projects made by their production company Upside Down Pictures, led by their longtime collaborator Hilary Leavitt.

The first is the already announced first spin-off from Stranger Thingsbut in between there is also a theatrical show plus two other projects: a live-action adaptation of the Japanese manga and anime series death Note and a series based on The talisman from Stephen King and Peter Straub, work also cited in the fourth season of Stranger Things. Guests of Josh Horowitz’s podcast, the Duffers have made it known that the spin-off will not have as its protagonist a character already known, but that it will share with the original series “the sensitivity of narration”, proposing a story connected to the world of Stranger Things, but in a new way and to be discovered. The theatrical performance, on the other hand, is in the hands of the producers Sonia Friedman And Stephen Daldry and we only know that it will be set in the “world and mythology” of the series.

“Matt and Ross are an exceptionally unique talent, with sharp and clear vision. It’s all about the details: it is not a case that Stranger Things crossed the spirit of the times to become the epic pop culture phenomenon it is today “said the Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos leaving out that certain materials should be handled with care, because it is a moment that the series are likely to tire, leading the public to become passionate about new stories and new franchises. The big unspoken of the operation attempted by HBO with game of Thrones it is, in fact, that House of the Dragon, a very expensive spin-off and an offshoot of the original series, you do not meet the hoped-for success by making the directors understand that that wave has now passed and that the public is looking for something else. We do not know if the same risk is also sensed by the parties Stranger Things, but we would like to advise the Duffers to be careful and not to get burned: it would be a shame, especially given the very high quality of the last season.

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