By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Friday, August 28, 2015
The very first Netflix series to be shot in Atlanta is a supernatural drama called "Stranger Things."
The only big name attached to it is Winona Ryder ("Reality Bites," "Edward Scissorhands"), who recently appeared in the HBO miniseries "Show Me a Hero."
This would, to my knowledge, be her first regular role in a television series. (Netflix isn't technically on "TV" but I'm just using common parlance.)
The lead male is played by David Harbour ("Quantum of Solace," "Revolutionary Road").
According to Variety, the show was originally called "Montauk" and set on Long Island. But Atlanta would make a terrible proxy for the shores of Long Island since the metro area lacks a viable beach. So instead, creators Matt and Ross Duffer ("Wayward Pines") opted to set it in Indiana instead. (As ABC's now cancelled drama "Resurrection" knows, Atlanta can imitate the Midwest fairly well.)
I hear this is also set in the 1980s, the second such show shot in Atlanta which uses that decade as a backdrop. The other is AMC's "Halt & Catch Fire."
Plotwise, "Stranger Things" begins with a young boy vanishing into thin air amid an unfolding mystery involving top-secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces — and a very strange little girl.
Ryder will play Joyce, a working-class single mom whose son disappears, and Harbour will be the town’s chief of police.
Several child actors have been cast. (Variety has the list if you are interested.)
The show will claim roots at EUE Screen Gems in Atlanta.
It is scheduled to begin production this fall and will air in 2016. Netflix has committed to eight episodes for season one.
