Of all the genre projects the upcoming streaming service Quibi has in the works, the one I'm most intrigued by is the anthology show 50 States of Fright… which was formerly known as 50 States of Fear, but apparently Quibi thinks Fright is more appealing to viewers than Fear.
A trailer for 50 States of Fright has been released online and can be seen above.
My interest in this series has a lot to do with the fact that it's executive produced by one of my favorite filmmakers, Sam Raimi, who also directed one of the episodes.
50 States of Fright focuses on telling "the scariest story in every state in the U.S.", and the first season consists of the following episodes:
– “Golden Arm” – Michigan – Sam Raimi (Spider Man, Army of Darkness, The Evil Dead): to direct and co-write with Ivan Raimi (Army of Darkness, Drag Me to Hell, Darkman): to co-write
– “Almost There” – Iowa – Scott Beck & Bryan Woods (A Quiet Place, Haunt): to write and direct
– “America's Largest Ball of Twine” – Kansas – Yoko Okumura (Facets, Fed Up, Only the Young): to direct and Mae Catt (Transformers: Cyberverse): to write
– “13 Steps to Hell” – Washington – Sarah Conradt-Kroehler (Out of Her Mind): to write and Lee Cronin (The Hole in the Ground): to direct
– “Red Rum” – Colorado – Isa Mazzei (Cam) & Daniel Goldhaber (Cam): to co-write and Goldhaber: to direct
– “Dogwood – Azalea” – Missouri – Cate Devaney (Sinister, Deliver Us From Evil, Dr. Strange): to write and direct
– “Santeria” – Florida – Greg Hale (Avengers, Iron Man, The Day After Tomorrow, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2) and Eduardo Sánchez (The Blair Witch Project, Queen of the South, Supernatural): to co-write and Alejandro Brugués (Juan of the Dead, Nightmare Cinema): to direct
– “Scared Stiff” – Oregon – Ryan Spindell (Two Sentence Horror Series): to write and direct
– “Grey Cloud Island” – Minnesota – Adam Schindler (Intruders, Delivery: The Beast Within) and Brian Netto (Delivery: The Beast Within): to write and direct
Rachel Brosnahan, Travis Fimmel, and John Marshall Jones will be starring in Raimi's The Golden Arm; Christina Ricci, Victoria Justice, and Jacob Batalon star in Red Rum; Ming-Na Wen and Karen Allen will be in America's Largest Ball of Twine; Taissa Farmiga and Ron Livingston are in Almost There; Scared Stiff will star James Ransone and Emily Hampshire; Asa Butterfield is the lead in Grey Cloud Island, with Alex Fitzalan co-starring; Elizabeth Reaser, Warren Christie, and William B. Davis are signed on for Dogwood – Azalea; Rory Culkin is the lead in 13 Steps to Hell; and Danay Garcia will star in Santeria.
Set to make its debut on April 6th, Quibi gets its name from the fact that it will be offering its subscribers "quick bites" of entertainment. Episodes of Quibi shows are expected to be 10 minutes or less, and are meant to be watched on your smartphone while you're on the go.
It's not clear if 50 States of Fright will be available to watch when Quibi goes live on April 6th, but the trailer promises it is coming sometime in April.