The stream of content being developed at Quibi keeps on flowing, with Darren Criss being the latest name to attach himself to the forthcoming Jeffrey Katzenberg-founded platform.
The “Glee” and “American Crime Story” star is set to lead, executive produce and write original songs for “Royalties,” a musical comedy series which is described as a satirical take on the untold stories of songwriters behind the world’s biggest hits.
The show follows the ascent of a ragtag songwriting duo, Sara and Pierce (Criss), as they navigate the challenges of creating a great song, week after week. Each episode will feature real-life music personalities portraying fictitious pop stars. Criss is co-writing the series with longtime collaborators Nick and Matt Lang.
“Royalties” marks the first series to come out of Sidecar, the content development accelerator launched by Fox in February. The prospective show is one of dozens in the works at Quibi, which is slated to launch in April 2020.
The company is attracting A-list talent across the board, and has announced a slew of projects including Steven Spielberg’s “After Dark,” a horror series users will be able to watch only between sundown and sunrise local time. Other partners include Guillermo del Toro, Antoine Fuqua, Sam Raimi, Jason Blum, Steven Soderbergh, Catherine Hardwick, Anna Kendrick, Doug Liman, Laurence Fishburne and Stephen Curry’s Unanimous Media. Quibi also has ordered shows featuring Tyra Banks, Chrissy Teigen, Don Cheadle and Idris Elba as well as a remake of MTV’s “Punk’d.”
Led by former DreamWorks Animation chief Katzenberg and CEO Meg Whitman, Quibi has raised $1 billion from investors including major Hollywood studios and is seeking to raise another $500 million ahead of its launch.