Photo courtesy of AARP
Palisadian Don Cheadle, still riding the wave of a year that saw him earn windfall success with “Avengers: Endgame,” “Black Monday” and “Ratched,” will be starring in a new science fiction series “Don’t Look Deeper,” on the yet-to-be-released streaming platform Quibi, a mobile-only app with $1 billion in funding set to launch in April 2020, backed by Palisadian Janice Min.
Quibi will offer two payment tiers: $4.99 per month with short ads or $7.99 per month with no ads.
Palisadian Steven Speilberg earlier last year announced he would be producing and writing a series that can only be viewed in the dark for the app. Other big Hollywood names that will contribute to the platform include Guillermo del Toro, Sam Raimi and Antoine Fuqua.
Quibi, founded by former Disney Execs Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, is focused exclusively on short-form content (10 minutes or less) and claims it will spend nearly $495 million on programming ahead of its launch and as much as $600 million in its first year on around 7,000 videos, including everything from movies to reality TV.
What makes Quibi a draw for content creators is its unique rights arrangement: After a certain amount of time, the rights for the content are restored to the content’s creators, an ambitious and unprecedented move in the entertainment business.
Cheadle’s foray onto the Quibi platform, “Don’t Look Deeper,” takes place in Merced, California, and centers on a girl who believes herself to be something other than human.
The series also stars Emily Mortimer (“Mary Poppins Returns”) and Helena Howard (Madeline’s “Madeline”). “Lost” co-creator Jeffrey Lieber serves as showrunner, writing the series alongside Charlie McDonnell.
“Don’t Look Deeper,” a co-production between New Form and 30 Ninjas, will be directed and executive produced by “Twilight” director Catherine Hardwicke.
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