Ragesh Dipu
The ‘Avengers‘ star Don Cheadle has joined the cast of upcoming sci-fi drama series ‘Don’t Look Deeper’ from the short-form content platform Quibi. Cheadle joins the already announced cast Emily Mortimer (‘Mary Poppins Returns‘) and Helena Howard (‘The Wilds’). The series is a co-production between New Form and Doug Liman’s 30 Ninjas for Quibi. Catherine Hardwicke, who is known for ‘Twilight‘ and ‘Red Riding Hood’ is set to direct ‘Don’t Look Deeper,’ reports Deadline.
The plot is set in Merced, California where a troubled high school girl struggling to find the reason behind her uneasiness. Soon, the girl learns the shocking truth that she is not human! When she digs deep into her own origin story, horrible truths and shadowy men surface all around her. She is haunted by the new developments while her internal and external worlds turn upside down. Jeffrey Lieber, who is known for ‘Lost,’ co-wrote the script and also serves as showrunner. Charlie McDonnell is on board as the co-writer. ‘Don’t Look Deeper’ is executive produced by Lieber, McDonnell, Hardwicke, Kathleen Grace and Laura Schwartz for New Form and Jed Weintrob and Julina Tatlock for 30 Ninjas.
Quibi, which is the short form for “quick bites,” was founded by Katzenberg and Meg Whitman in August 2018. The platform has an impressive lineup of programs which include projects of Guillermo del Toro, Antoine Fuqua. and Sam Raimi. Steven Spielberg has signed on to write and direct a horror series for Quibi a couple of days back. Titled as ‘Spielberg’s After Dark,’ the series will allow the viewers to watch it only after dark with the help of a ticking clock installed to their smartphones.
Various reports suggest the upcoming Quibi originals will be delivered as several seven to 10 minutes long capsules for streaming. “What Quibi is doing, it’s not really short form,” Katzenberg told reporters. “We’re putting those sciences together. Chapters or act breaks that are 7 to 10 minutes long. They are specifically shot to be watched on the go. If you’re 25-35 years old, you get up and you’re on [a smartphone] for over five hours.”
“This is a completely new platform, with a completely new opportunity to tell stories in a different format,” Whitman said at 2019 Produced By Conference. “People are watching up to 60 minutes a day of video on their phones, and that figure is only going to get bigger with the arrival of 5G.” As an exclusive streaming platform for smartphones, Quibi is expected to be a trailblazer. Katzenberg and Whitman also revealed that they will launch platform on April 6th, 2020 with two tiers for subscribers, $4.99 with short ads, and $7.99 without them.
Cover Image Courtesy: Showtime (House of Lies)
