Netflix teams with ‘Dark Crystal’ & ‘Stranger Things’ creators for mystery ‘The Boroughs’

The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance creators Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews have teamed up with Stranger Things duo The Duffer Brothers for their latest Netflix project – supernatural mystery series The Boroughs.

Addiss and Matthews have created the series and will serve as showrunners, with the Duffers executive producing via their Upside Down Pictures shingle, alongside Hilary Leavitt.

Set in a seemingly picturesque retirement community in the New Mexico desert, the series follows a group of unlikely heroes who must band together to stop an otherworldly threat from stealing the one thing they don’t have – time.

The Duffer Brothers launched Upside Down Pictures in 2022 to lead the expansion to their Stranger Things franchise via West End production Stranger Things: The First Shadow, as well as screen spin-offs including a recently announced animated series from Flying Bark Productions that they will exec produce. Other projects include a live-action series adaptation of Death Note.

Addiss and Matthews, meanwhile, were behind the 2019 Netflix series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, a prequel to the 1982 Jim Henson film The Dark Crystal, which the streamer elected not to extend into a second season.

“We’ve been fans of Jeff and Will’s writing for a long time, and when they pitched us their idea for The Boroughs, we immediately knew they had something very special on their hands,” said The Duffers.

“While the heroes in The Boroughs have a few more years on them than the kids from Stranger Things, they are a similarly lovable bunch of misfits, and we can’t wait for you to join them on an adventure that is at turns scary, funny, and deeply touching.”

Addiss and Matthews added: “Working alongside the Duffer Brothers (who are pretty good at making shows) and their team has been a dream come true. They bring the perfect balance of heart and horror to our story. We can’t wait for audiences around the world to unlock the dark mystery buried beneath the sunny facade of The Boroughs.”