Frank Darabont, who directed masterpieces such as The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and The Green Mile (1999), had retired from directing but is returning for the first time in 11 years with the upcoming 5th season of Stranger Things. Tarabont, who is enchanted by the series, talks passionately about why the show is so lovable. Darabont was a showrunner and executive producer for the popular drama The Walking Dead until season 2 (2011), but his last directing role was in the historical gangster drama Mob City (2013), where he directed four episodes.
Darabont, who has not been active in Hollywood since then, explained to the Daily Beast that he was invited by Matt and Ross Duffer, the creators of Stranger Things, to direct two episodes of season 5. However, he confessed that the real reason was that he was dragged out of retirement because his wife and I were obsessed with this show. He also said, "The content now is full of horrible people who do tragic things for greed, but Stranger Things is full of heart. I really resonated with its positivity," and it seems to be a favorite show of his.
Set in a rural town in the 1980s, Stranger Things tells the story of a group of friends searching for a missing boy named Will, who meets a girl named Eleven/Elle who has psychic powers and confronts the conspiracy of a laboratory involved in mysterious experiments and beings from another dimension. As Darabont pointed out, the series depicts the friendship and bonds between friends and the love of family from a pure perspective, and the story is also popular for its humane and warm story. The production environment with the Duffer Brothers and Netflix must have been comfortable.
Darabont is now 65 years old and is approaching middle age as a creator and director. Considering that directors in their 80s such as Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola are still active in filmmaking, Darabont seems to have a long way to go, but could his involvement in "Stranger Things" lead to a full-time return to the industry?
"I don't know what's going to happen," Darabont replied. "I don't miss the business, but I miss being on set with creative people. This may be my last, but I still have time," he said. Hopefully, "Stranger Things" won't be his retirement as a director. The final season of "Stranger Things," season 5, is currently being filmed in Atlanta and is scheduled to be released on Netflix in 2025.