Netflix Orders Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure

Evening News · Friday 6 November 2026

On Stranger Things Day, Netflix has ordered Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure, a live-action prequel set in the 1950s, and dropped an official announcement teaser. Also tonight: Jeremy Renner takes on London gangs for Sky in 12 Bullets, Keanu Reeves returns to voice John Wick in an animated prequel, Chris Pratt continues James Reece’s story in Amazon’s Savage Son, Paul Bettany joins Netflix’s Pagans, and Adam Driver confirms his villain in Michael Mann’s Heat 2.

The News That Matters

Netflix orders Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure

• What happened: Netflix has ordered Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure, a live-action prequel series, and released an official announcement teaser on Stranger Things Day (6 November), The Hollywood Reporter and Variety reported
• The set-up: It is set in the 1950s, with production in New Mexico. The Duffer Brothers are co-creators and executive producers, but showrunning passes to longtime Stranger Things writer Kate Trefry (The First Shadow). Joe Wright (Atonement) directs the first three episodes. The cast and story are new; the Duffers’ statement teases “watch the skies”
• Who’s making it: Executive producers include the Duffers via Upside Down Pictures, Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps, Paul Dichter, Shelley Meals, Andrea Sperling and Pavlina Hatoupis
• UK availability: Coming to Netflix in 2028; UK date within that window not yet confirmed

Watch the trailer

A fresh Hawkins-era universe without recycling the same kids is exactly what the franchise needed after the finale. For more of what is landing on UK streamers this week, see our Weekly Streaming Highlights.

Jeremy Renner battles London gangs in Sky’s 12 Bullets

• What happened: Jeremy Renner will star in 12 Bullets, an action thriller from John Wick producer Thunder Road and Sky, Deadline reported. International sales launch at the American Film Market through 193, with CAA Media Finance handling North America
• The story: A mysterious American wages a one-man war against rival criminal gangs on London’s supposedly gun-free streets, armed with a single gun and only twelve bullets
• Who’s making it: Sean Ellis (Anthropoid) directs from a script by Tim Walker. Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee produce for Thunder Road. It was developed by Sky and Thunder Road and will release in the UK and Ireland as a Sky Original
• UK availability: Sky Original for the UK and Ireland; UK release date not yet confirmed

A lean London action film with a hard bullet count is pure high-concept Thunder Road, and putting it on Sky first is a win for British viewers.

Keanu Reeves returns as John Wick in Lionsgate’s animated prequel

• What happened: Keanu Reeves has closed a deal to voice John Wick in Lionsgate’s untitled animated prequel, Variety reported. Shannon Tindle (Ultraman: Rising, Kubo and the Two Strings) directs from a script by Ryan and Kaz Firpo
• The story: It recounts Wick completing the Impossible Task — killing all his rivals in one night — to free himself from the High Table and be with Helen
• Who’s making it: Thunder Road’s Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee, 87Eleven’s Chad Stahelski and Reeves produce, joined by Point Grey
• UK availability: In development; UK cinema and streaming dates not yet confirmed

Animation lets the Impossible Task go bigger than a live-action night of carnage ever could. Thunder Road’s action brand is also in the trailer mix with Karōshi, produced by Stahelski.

Chris Pratt returns as James Reece in Amazon’s Savage Son

• What happened: Chris Pratt will again play former Navy SEAL James Reece in Savage Son for Amazon, Variety reported. It adapts Jack Carr’s third novel in The Terminal List series and is expected to stand alone rather than simply continue as Season 3
• The story: A military thriller mixing action, espionage and wilderness survival as Reece faces his most personal mission yet
• Who’s making it: Amazon MGM Studios, MRC and Civic Center Media. The Terminal List Season 2 debuted on 21 October, after the 2025 prequel Dark Wolf
• UK availability: Coming to Prime Video in the UK; UK date not yet confirmed

Pratt staying inside Carr’s books keeps the franchise’s spine intact after Dark Wolf widened the world. Season 2 is already flagged in our streaming highlights.

Update: Paul Bettany joins Steven Yeun in Netflix’s Pagans

• What’s new: Paul Bettany has been cast as Mag, a charismatic stranger, opposite Steven Yeun in Netflix’s supernatural drama Pagans, Deadline reported exclusively on 5 November. He joins previously announced leads Sabine Grace, Logan Kim, Marin Ireland and Intae Kim
• The series: Created by Joshua Zetumer (Say Nothing), it follows widower Gus (Yeun) raising two children after his wife’s death, as his daughter Alice’s nature turns a strained household into something sinister. We first covered the cast in our 22 October Morning News
• Who’s making it: Zetumer showruns. Drew Goddard and Sarah Esberg (Goddard Textiles), Jonathan van Tulleken, Erica Kay, and Celadon Pictures’ Yeun and Christina Oh executive produce
• UK availability: Coming to Netflix; UK date not yet confirmed

Bettany as the stranger who walks into a grieving home is classic supernatural casting — warm enough to trust, sharp enough to dread.

Update: Adam Driver confirms he plays Otis Wardell in Michael Mann’s Heat 2

• What’s new: Adam Driver has confirmed he will play Otis Wardell, the psychopathic leader of a violent home-invasion crew, in Michael Mann’s Heat 2, calling the script “a missile” in recent interviews. Filming is aimed at early 2027
• Where we were: Mann’s recovery after a gun-range accident and the January 2027 start target were covered in our 1 November Evening News, after an earlier delay note in our 23 October Evening News
• The film: Mann adapts his own novel, a prequel and sequel to 1995’s Heat, with Austin Butler and co-stars previously announced
• UK availability: Theatrical plans not yet confirmed for the UK

Naming Wardell locks in the antagonist fans of the novel have been waiting for, and puts Heat 2 firmly back on the 2027 radar.

Which 1950s mystery would you rather Netflix open first — UFOs over New Mexico, or something even stranger under Hawkins? Tell us below.

Back tomorrow with What to Watch Tonight at 7:30am and the Morning News at 8am.