Frank Darabont, best known for helming The Shawshank Redemption, revealed why the fifth and final installment of Netflix‘s Stranger Things brought him out of a more than decade-long retirement.
While speaking to The Daily Beast in a retrospective interview tied to the seminal film’s 30th anniversary, Darabont said it was the similar through line of hope that led him to take on directing parts of the forthcoming season.
“What really dragged me out of retirement was that my wife and I really love this show,” he said. “Our content now is so filled with horrible people doing horrible things for greedy reasons but Stranger Things has so much heart. That positivity is something I really responded to.”
When asked if this would mean he would return to filmmaking more broadly, the three-time Oscar nominee replied, “Who knows? I haven’t missed the business but I have missed being on set with creative people … It may well be one and done, but we’ve still got time.”
In addition to the indelible Shawshank, Darabont is known for another Stephen King adaptation, The Green Mile starring Tom Hanks, which he directed and for which he penned the screenplay. The director was also a developer and executive producer on the early seasons of The Walking Dead. His last project was helming episodes of the Jon Bernthal-led crime drama Mob City, on which he also served as creator.
The highly anticipated Stranger Things Season 5 is well underway into the second half of production, as noted by the Duffer Brothers in an Instagram post back in July. The blockbuster sci-fi YA series will take viewers back to the Upside Down and brewing war against the omnipresent Vecna, though much about the show’s plot is still under wraps. With eight episodes remaining, three new cast members have tagged along for the ride. Though star Maya Hawke recently commented that the long-gestating filming process was akin to “making, basically, eight movies,” showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer have stated that the forthcoming installment will have a shorter run time than Season 4, which included a couple episodes that ran well over the hour mark.
