James Wan is bringing his extensive horror and fantasy background–from the Saw and Conjuring franchises to Aquaman–to bear on a new Netflix series.
Archive 81–which draws its inspiration from the popular found-footage horror podcast of the same name–is slated to be an eight-part series, with Wan acting as executive producer, as reported by Deadline.
Rebecca Sonnenshine (The Vampire Diaries) will serve as showrunner for the series, which will be scripted by Paul Harris Boardman (The Exorcism of Emily Rose). Stranger Things director Rebecca Thomas will helm the first four episodes and also act as executive producer.
The series–starring Mamoudou Athie (Jurassic World: Dominion) and Dina Shihabi (Altered Carbon)–will follow archivist Dan Turner as he takes “a mysterious job restoring a collection of damaged videotapes from 1994 (and) finds himself reconstructing the work of documentary filmmaker Melody Pendras and her investigation into a dangerous cult.” Turner is drawn into her story and becomes convinced he can save her from “the terrifying end she met 25 years ago.”
Sonnenshine said the filmmakers are hoping “to give the supernatural horror genre a new twist–while keeping a dark, deeply emotional romance as its core. I’m excited to take Netflix viewers on a terrifying and visually thrilling adventure.”
The Archive 81 podcast–which started in 2018–is described as “a fiction podcast about horror, cities and the subconscious.” Co-creators Marc Sollinger and Daniel Powell will co-produce the Netflix series.
Keep reading Horror News Network for further updates on Archive 81 on Netflix.
