Long before they became known for creating one of the most popular television series in recent memory, Strange thingsThe Duffer brothers were a pair of twins who, fresh out of college, wrote a script for a horror film that quickly sparked a bidding war. You’ve probably never heard of this film, let alone seen it, because it was more or less abandoned by its studio and released to the world as an afterthought.
The name of the movie is Hidden, and while it could have meant the end of the Duffer brothers’ careers, it didn’t. On the contrary, it served as a calling card for M. Night Shyamalan and motivated the brothers to continue working hard towards their lifelong goal: to become professional filmmakers.
How did the Duffer brothers make their first film?
It all happened so fast, and then it all went wrong
To understand how the Duffer brothers came to Strange thingsYou have to start at the beginning. Ross and Matt Duffer were born and raised in North Carolina. They first started making films in the second grade and knew right then that storytelling was what they wanted to do with their lives. As young adults, they attended Chapman University and, shortly after graduation, began the long, arduous task of making it in Hollywood.
But it wasn’t so long and arduous for the Duffer brothers — at least, not at first. Shortly after graduating, the twin brothers wrote a script for a horror film called Hidden It generated enough interest in industry circles that Warner Brothers was willing not only to buy it but to allow these novice filmmakers to make it. A tense storyline about a family struggling to survive in a bomb shelter for reasons initially unknown, Hidden The sale almost seemed to secure their future in Hollywood. But it wasn’t.
From what Ross Duffer would later describe Vulture While discussing the brothers’ career trajectory, he sensed something was amiss early on in the project’s lifecycle when he received an unusual call from the studio, telling the outlet,
“I started getting worried after three weeks. We got a call from a manager, and he said, ‘Wait, is everything in a bomb shelter?'”
Shortly after, Warner Brothers underwent a regime change that didn’t help matters. Before they knew what was happening, the only people affected by Hidden Fate was decided by the Duffer brothers themselves. At this critical juncture in their careers, the two men felt like they had achieved their dream, but they blew it. Matt told Vulture, “You knock on the door for years, and they finally let you in the party. And then they say, ‘That was an accident. You don’t really belong here. Get out of here.’ Your dreams come true, and then they don’t.” But the Duffer brothers weren’t done dreaming yet.
What is hidden?
Family ties and horror, which seems terribly familiar
Hidden is far from being as well known as Strange thingsBut like all good artists (especially one of their main influences, Stephen King), the Duffer Brothers like to explore similar themes with each new project. Basically, Hidden It’s about a desperate family hoping to survive a zombie apocalypse without losing their love and appreciation for each other. It’s similar to how friendship develops in Strange things helps our heroes outwit and survive the demonic entities of the Upside Down.
Hidden begins with Ray (Alexander Skarsgård) and Claire (Andrea Riseborough) living in a bomb shelter with their daughter, Zoe (Emily Alyn Lind). Just as Joyce Byers will later desperately try to keep her children safe in Strange thingsClaire and Ray are desperate to keep Zoe alive. We quickly learn that the key to their survival is to try to make no noise so that the monsters known as the “Breathers” don’t find them. Eventually, however, the family is discovered, leading to a series of revelations that suggest the “monsters” weren’t necessarily the enemies we thought they were.
With its focus on family and its younger character, Zoe, Hidden possesses all the hallmarks of the Duffer Brothers’ style that would soon emerge and become so incredibly popular. The only thing they lacked Hidden It was the “what if Stephen Spielberg directed Stephen King” aesthetic that they finally managed to achieve with their hit TV series. Zoe may not be Eleven, but she’s certainly a prototype of the character model, one that has only gotten better with time and the experience the Duffer brothers have gained as they continue to tell stories.
Has Hidden ever actually been seen?
You will have to look very hard to find it
The Duffer brothers began shooting their first feature film in the summer of 2012 in Vancouver, British Columbia, but Hidden The film would not be released for another three years. Following a change in regime at Warner Brothers, a new studio head decided to shelve the film, canceling its original release date. Eventually, Hidden climbed out of the hole Warner Brothers threw it into when the studio released the film straight to video on demand in 2015.
Given the critical reception that followed, it’s hard to blame Warner Brothers for being so dismissive of the film. Hidden. When it was finally released, the film received very few positive reviews, with most critics noting that the Duffer brothers’ inherent instincts for filmmaking needed to be refined a bit more to truly prove successful. Some, however, were a bit more positive, such as Nav Qateel, who wrote for Influx Magazine, who called it “an accomplished film with a satisfying conclusion. It’s also a very adult and mature film, a far cry from the low-budget films we’re used to.”
How did the Duffer brothers go from the failure of Hidden to the success of Stranger Things?
It called for a twist that only Mr. Nigh Shyamalan could deliver.
Shortly after Warner Brothers relegated the Duffer brothers’ first film to the video-on-demand market, they got their second chance when M. Night Shyamalan got his hands on the script for Hidden and felt in these twins two kindred spirits. So he hired them to write his television series, Capricious pines. Emboldened by the experiences they had while making that television series, the Duffer brothers finally set about writing their dream project, a concept that distilled all of their childhood obsessions into the young adult horror series. Strange things.
When the Duffer brothers landed in Los Angeles, they launched Strange things As a cross between Stephen King and Stephen Spielberg, they were eventually advised to downplay these comparisons. It wasn’t good advice, as most of the dozens of television executives who were pitched the idea ended up abandoning it. Then the vice president of Shawn Levy’s development company, 21 Laps Entertainment, found out about the script and promptly told his boss:
“It’s the work of these twin brothers that no one has ever heard of. And it’s perhaps the best pilot I’ve ever read.”
The rest, as they say, is history. 21 Laps Entertainment has purchased the rights to Strange things and quickly secured a production deal with Netflix. Upon its release, Strange things has become one of the streaming service’s most successful original shows of all time, and it continues to be Netflix’s flagship show even as it finally nears its end.
When asked if they would change anything about their trip, the Duffer brothers seem hesitant, saying, “Ultimately, Hidden It was a great experience because we know what it’s like to fail. And we know it’s going to happen again.” Today, the Duffer brothers are on the opposite end of the spectrum from when they started. They’re the ones getting offered speculative scripts by aspiring writers hoping to emulate their creations. And who knows, maybe one day it will lead to a new TV show that’s even more popular than Strange things.