Steven Spielberg Quibi Series Will Be "Creepy" And "Super Scary", So Hide The Kids

Quibi, the strangely-named streaming service that will specialize in short-form content, is lining-up some heavy hitters – and they don't come any heavier than Steven Spielberg. Jeffrey Katzenberg, the mogul behind Quibi and close personal friend of Spielberg, revealed that the blockbuster filmmaker is writing something "creepy" and "super scary." The idea of Spielberg writing a streaming series is a bit ironic, since the legendary director has railed against the evils of streaming in the past. But if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, as they say.

Have you heard of Quibi? The upcoming streaming service will offer "quick bites of captivating entertainment, created for mobile by the best talent, designed to fit perfectly into any moment of your day." In other words, short-form content (we're talking like 10 minute runtimes here, max) that you can watch on your phone. The idea comes from Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, who are selling Quibi as "Netflix for your phone."

Quibi has already lined-up projects involving Steven Soderbergh, Antoine Fuqua, Anna Kendrick, Laurence Fishburne and more. And now they've landed one big fish: Steven Spielberg. According to Deadline, Katzenberg recently revealed that Spielberg will write a "creepy" series for Quibi. "Steven Spielberg has a super scary story. He's actually writing it himself. Getting him to write something is fantastic," Katzenberg said.

Spielberg has penned "four or five chapters" of the series, which will run between 10-12 chapters total. Specifics about the project remain illusive, but Spielberg apparently wants viewers to only stream the show after midnight, and that Meg Whitman came up with a concept called "Spielberg After Dark", which will "put a clock within the Quibi player to mean that viewers will only have a limited amount of time to watch the show."

Spooky!

Having Spielberg write, but not direct, a series is an interesting development. While the filmmaker rarely receives writing credits – he has writing credits on only three of his films, and "story by" credits on two others – he's had a hand in writing or re-writing nearly every film he's made (something that tends to annoy credited screenwriters from time to time).

Quibi will launch on April 6, 2020, and plan to release 7,000 pieces of content in one year, with 25 pieces of content every day. This will run you $4.99 a month, with ads. I suppose the big question here is: will people want to pay for short-form content they're used to watching for free? Time will tell, but I'll admit I had zero interest in this concept until learning the Spielberg news – so maybe drawing in big talent is the key.