Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer are currently negotiating a business deal with Paramount, according to a Thursday report by Deadline. If completed, the contract would isolate the writer/director/producers from Stranger Things streamer Netflix, which has worked with the brothers since the first season of the supernatural mystery drama premiered in 2016.

Insiders told Deadline that the proposed Paramount deal would include both streaming releases and theatrical releases, the latter of which is currently unavailable to them at Netflix (barring a few fringe exceptions, such as the upcoming theatrical release of Kpop Demon Hunters). It would also rejoin them with Cindy Holland and Matt Thunnell, two executives instrumental in Stranger Things receiving the greenlight in the first place. Holland is now Paramount’s Chair of Direct-to-Consumer, while Thunnell is President of Paramount TV Studios.

Complicating matters are the Duffers’ prior commitments to three recently announced Netflix projects, which Deadline insiders report would constitute exceptions to the deal. The first is Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85, an animated spinoff that would take place between the original series’ second and third seasons; the second is an untitled live-action Stranger Things spinoff; and the third is The Boroughs, another supernatural sci-fi series set to release in 2026 with the Duffers serving as executive producers.

Due to the immense popularity of Stranger Things, and the immense production cost that comes attached, the Duffers’ original projects since the series began have been few and far between. In 2022 they founded Upside Down Productions, designed to create stories “that take place at that beautiful crossroads where the ordinary meets the extraordinary, where big spectacle co-exists with intimate character work, where heart wins out over cynicism (per Deadline).” Should the deal go through, it would allow the production company to better flesh out its repertoire, which currently just consists of Stranger Things and its recent critically acclaimed stage play, Stranger Things: The First Shadow.

Paramount’s 2025 has largely been defined by deals. Most famously, the last month has seen them approve a long-rumored merger with rival media company Skydance, a billion-dollar exclusivity deal with South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker (That’s My Bush, Team America: World Police) and the streaming rights to premium UFC events, which have historically employed a pay-per-view model. A Deadline representative reached out to a Paramount executive, who denied comment on the matter.