Netflix
Duffer Brothers Exit Netflix for Blockbuster Paramount Deal
Their Stranger Things pilot was famously rejected by multiple networks until Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps Entertainment championed the project and sold it to Netflix. When the first season dropped in July 2016, it became Netflix’s first true in-house hit without a major name attached. By Season 4 in 2022, Stranger Things was Netflix’s most-watched English-language series ever.
In a major shakeup to Hollywood’s creative landscape, Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer, the visionary minds behind Netflix’s cultural phenomenon Stranger Things, are in advanced negotiations for an exclusive film and television deal at Paramount. The move marks a seismic shift for the sibling creators, who have spent nearly a decade defining Netflix’s original programming brand.
The Paramount pact, overseen by David Ellison’s Skydance following its recent takeover of the studio, will see the Duffer Brothers focusing heavily on tentpole movies while also developing television projects. The deal reunites them with Cindy Holland, Paramount’s new head of streaming, who famously greenlit Stranger Things during her tenure at Netflix. They will also collaborate with Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg, who share creative oversight of film and TV at the studio.
While the Duffer Brothers are charting a new creative future at Paramount, their relationship with Netflix is far from over. Through their production company Upside Down Pictures, run by Hilary Leavitt, they are delivering several projects to the streamer. These include:
The Boroughs (2026) — an adventure series starring Bill Pullman, Geena Davis, Alfre Woodard, and Alfred Molina.
Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen (2026) — a relationship-horror series starring Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 — an animated prequel teased at the 2025 Annecy Festival.
In addition, the highly anticipated fifth and final season of Stranger Things premieres in November 2025. Following the finale, the Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer are expected to helm a still-untitled live-action spin-off set in the Stranger Things universe.
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From Rejection to Netflix Domination
The Duffers’ road to success was anything but smooth. Their feature debut, Hidden, languished at Warner Bros. before being quietly released to VOD. But a chance connection with M. Night Shyamalan — who admired their script — led to writing gigs on Wayward Pines and sharpened their storytelling skills.
Their Stranger Things pilot was famously rejected by multiple networks until Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps Entertainment championed the project and sold it to Netflix. When the first season dropped in July 2016, it became Netflix’s first true in-house hit without a major name attached. By Season 4 in 2022, Stranger Things was Netflix’s most-watched English-language series ever.
With Paramount’s deep resources and an eye toward blockbuster filmmaking, the Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer’s next chapter could see them expand far beyond Hawkins, Indiana. Their shift signals a growing trend in Hollywood: top-tier talent diversifying partnerships to balance streaming dominance with theatrical spectacle.
For fans, it’s the end of an era at Netflix — but the beginning of something potentially even bigger on the big screen.
