Steven Spielberg is set to try his hand at the horror genre, with the legendary filmmaker teaming with former Disney and DreamWorks chief Jeffrey Katzenberg to write a horror series for Katzenberg’s upcoming mobile-based streaming service Quibi.
Titled Spielberg’s After Dark, the series will run for 10-12 ‘chapters’ of between seven and ten minutes apiece, and – at Spielberg’s specific request – will make use of mobile technology to give viewers a limited window to watch the episodes, only becoming available once the sun goes down.
“Steven Spielberg came in, and said, ‘I have a super scary story I want to do,’” said Katzenberg (via Variety). “He’s writing it himself. He hasn’t [written anything in a while] so getting him to write something is fantastic. [He’s] written five or six episodes of a 10- or 12-chapter story.”
Slated to launch in April 2020, Quibi will offer a variety of “quick bites” for mobile viewers on the go, with 125 pieces of short form content released each week in what Katzenberg hopes will usher in a “third generation of film narrative”.
Talent already on board to produce content for the service include the likes of Steven Soderbergh, Guillermo del Toro, Sam Raimi, Catherine Hardwick, Anna Kendrick, Doug Liman, Laurence Fishburne and Antoine Fuqua.
