A “Talk to Me” spinoff series is coming to a headset near you.
Meta and XRTV have teamed up for a currently-untitled series, which will consist of six half-hour episodes. It’s set to follow “a group of young travelers chasing the ultimate party on a European island until they discover the Hand, a supernatural high deadlier than any drug,” per a press release, which also describes the show as “‘Euphoria’ with possession.”
The high-tech twist is that it’s being created exclusively for Meta headsets and shot fully in 3D, making for a fully immersive XR experience that will allow horror fans to feel like they’re living out the terror. “The live-action series will also harness cutting-edge mixed reality technology to map viewers’ environments and immerse them in the story,” the announcement details.
The series, which is officially set in the “Talk to Me” universe, was conceived from a pitch by Darren Brandl (“The Girl in the Woods”) and Trent Atherton (“The Wheel”). Atherton is writing the six episodes.
Director Craig William Macneill (“Them,” “The Terror,” “Castle Rock,” “Westworld”) will helm all of the episodes.
Danny and Michael Philippou’s “Talk to Me” was a Sundance sensation, which sparked a bidding war and was a hit when A24 released it in 2022, becoming the company’s highest-grossing horror release with over $90 million in worldwide box office returns. A feature sequel is currently in development.
Executive producers include Darren Brandl and Jack Davis (for XRTV), the Philippous (for Racka Racka), Samantha Jennings and Kristina Ceyton (for Causeway Films), Andreas Michael Wentz and Juan Antonio Cano Trujillo (for Sur Film), and Jeff Rich producing for Meta.
“The promise of XR is this idea that we can now map the story into your own space so you feel like you’re inside it,” Darren Brandl, the co-founder of XRTV, said in a statement. “It’s a big leap past the previous 3D and immersive shows we’ve produced, because now, the canvas is your living room. Its superpower is presence: that awe of being transported, the unsettling feeling that a demon is with you — in your room. ‘Talk to Me’ is the perfect immersive IP because it’s about young adults who seek the Hand, to experience the euphoria of possession but end up tormented by breaking through to the spirit world. It made possession fun, and the scares unforgettable. Maybe we’re crazy, but we’re betting you’re going to want to feel possessed too, and with Meta’s new technology, we think for the first time you’ll believe it!”
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XRTV is a new venture from Crypt TV co-founders Darren Brandl and Jack Davis, and will serve as a studio in association with original film producers Causeway Films and Racka Racka. XRTV focuses on immersive storytelling such as 3D, AR, VR, MR and spherical screens.
“This groundbreaking technology is opening up new frontiers and we are delighted to be working with world leaders Meta and XRTV,” Samantha Jennings and Kristina Ceyton, the executive producers of Causeway Films, said in a statement. “The concept of ‘Talk To Me’ is perfectly suited to the exciting possibilities of new kinds of immersive storytelling and we can’t wait to see the results.”
From Variety US