Stranger Things Creators Confirm Their Stephen King Adaptation Is Dead at Netflix (Exclusive)

In 2022, it was reported that Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer were leaving the Upside Down to tackle Stephen King’s The Talisman. A few years later, the project is no longer happening at Netflix.

Speaking to CBR’s Grae Drake, the Duffer Brothers confirmed the project is not happening anymore. Since The Talisman adaptation was officially announced in 2022, the duo worked hard on the final season of the show, which aired Vol. 2 of Season 1 on Dec. 25, with the last episode set to be released on New Year’s Eve. They also made a massive move from Netflix to Paramount.

Ross Duffer revealed, “Sadly, Talisman is no longer at Netflix, so we’re not involved.”

Matt jumped in, “I remember I was, I think it was probably naive of us to think we could break The Talisman.”

Ross continued, “When I interned, when I was really, you know, back in college at Kennedy Marshall, I remember reading, I think it was a movie script for Talisman. So it’s been in development forever, so I’m sorry that we were not the ones to break the curse.”

Matt added, “It will be whoever does it and cracks it.”

Stephen King and Peter Straub’s published the fantasy novel The Talisman in 1984. The series follows Jack Sawyer, a young man looking for an artifact called the Talisman on a terrifying trip in a parallel universe called the Territories, as it’s the only thing that could save his dying mother.

In 2001, the duo teamed up again and published a sequel, Black House, which puts Jack back in the spotlight, this time as a retired Los Angeles homicide detective, with no memories of his time in the Territories.

The Talisman received a short film adaptation in 2008 and a graphic novel in October 2009. A feature-length adaptation has been in development for decades with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners, but, according to the Duffer Brothers, it will be a long time before it actually happens.

The Stranger Things Franchise Continues

Joe Keery as Steve Harrington in Stranger ThingsNetflix

Although the Duffer Brothers will continue to create original stories outside of Netflix, the streaming giant still owns the rights to the franchise, and it will continue. There are already two projects lined up: the stage play Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which further deepens Henry Creel’s story, and recently featured Jamie Campbell Bower in a surprise appearance.

The show will also receive a spinoff series, the animated Stranger Things: Tales from ’85, which follows the beloved characters between the events of Seasons 2 and 3.

There are more projects on the way, including a different spinoff. There aren’t many details about the new show, but the Duffer Brothers told CBR it’s “different characters, different town, different story, but it’s connected in some ways to the flagship.”

Stranger Things Season 5 will wrap on Dec. 31.

Release Date

2016 – 2025-00-00

Network

Netflix

Showrunner

Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer

Directors

Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Nimród Antal, Uta Briesewitz

Writers

Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock

• Millie Bobby Brown

  Jane ‘Eleven’ Hopper

• Finn Wolfhard

  Mike Wheeler