Stranger Things animated series coming to Netflix

First details of spin-off series in Hawkins and the Upside Down revealed

Stranger Things stars Sadie Sink, Noah Schnapp, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard and Caleb McLaughlin. Photo: Netflix

An animated series set in the sci-fi world of Stranger Things is in development at Netflix, part of the streaming service's efforts to expand the hit show into a wide-ranging franchise.

Netflix announced the production on Monday, but gave no title or release date and few details.

"We’ve always dreamed of an animated Stranger Things in the vein of the Saturday morning cartoons that we grew up loving," the Duffer brothers, creators of the original series, said in the statement.

Stranger Things first aired on Netflix in 2016 and became the company's most-watched English language series. The show, which tells the story of a group of teenagers battling unusual happenings in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, reverberated through the cultural zeitgeist and turned Millie Bobby Brown, who was 12 at the time, into a global star. The most recent season propelled Kate Bush's song Running Up That Hill to the top of the iTunes and Spotify charts 37 years after its original release.

The series is the first Netflix sought to develop as a traditional entertainment franchise, whose characters and stories traverse film, television, games and consumer products. Its popularity took Netflix by surprise — "candidly we could never have predicted what Stranger Things has become," said Matthew Thunell, the Netflix vice president who first read the script and advocated for the series.

As the show's audience expanded beyond science-fiction fans to include adults captivated by its 1980s pop culture references, Netflix began contemplating ways to extend the story through spin-offs and merchandise.

That resulted in a range of Stranger Things tie-ins, such as a Surfer Boy pineapple and jalapeno frozen pizza at Walmart and a Magic 8 ball toy from Hasbro. Fans have also been able to participate in mock sleep studies at a Hawkins National Laboratory attraction in New York, San Francisco and London.

Netflix had previously announced that a Stranger Things spin-off show was in the works and a play that will debut at London's West End in November.

— Additional reporting by Reuters