Steven Spielberg is writing a horror series for Quibi streaming service

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Steven Spielberg doesn't usually write the films he directs, but he has done some writing here and there over the decades. While he has mostly earned "story by" credits (especially on the short-lived TV show Amazing Stories), he has screenplay writing credits on CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, POLTERGEIST, and A.I. Now Spielberg is writing something again, and we here at Arrow in the Head are glad to hear that he's returning to the genre of POLTERGEIST. He's writing a horror series.

Titled Spielberg's After Dark, the series is set up at the mobile streaming service Quibi. Quibi is short for "quick bites", as this streaming service is going to divide its shows into short chapters, around 7 to 10 minutes long, that are meant to be watched on your smartphone while you're on the go. Spielberg had a special request for his show, though – chapters of Spielberg's After Dark will only be available to watch after midnight.

Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and CEO Meg Whitman then had to figure out how to make this happen.

Given that phones can track where it is at the moment — and keep tabs on when the sun rises and sets in its area — Katzenberg and Whitman challenged their engineers to come up with an idea for how to view the show when it’s spooky out. The result: A clock will appear on phones, ticking down until sun sets in wherever that user is, until it’s completely gone. Then the clock starts ticking again to when the sun comes back up — and the show will disappear until the next night.

Katzenberg announced the Spielberg series while making an appearance at the Banff World Media Festival. He told those in attendance, 

Steven Spielberg came in, and said, ‘I have a super scary story I want to do.' He’s writing it himself. He hasn’t [written anything in a while] so getting him to write something is fantastic. [He has] written five or six episodes of a ten or twelve chapter story."

Other filmmakers currently developing genre shows for Quibi include Sam Raimi, Guillermo del Toro, and Jason Blum.

Quibi is scheduled to launch in April 2020. The service aims to stream 125 pieces of content every week, and will be offering a two-week free trial period. It has been said that subscriptions to Quibi will run $5 for the version with ads or $8 for an ad-free experience.