Netflix's 'Black Mirror' is returning tomorrow with its first standalone movie

black mirror

"Black Mirror: Bandersnatch," the first "Black Mirror" standalone movie, debuts on Netflix on Friday.
Netflix on Thursday released a trailer for the movie, which follows a game programmer tasked with creating a video game based on a classic novel called "Bandersnatch."
Netflix has yet to release details about the new season, but Bloomberg reported in October that a fifth season of the sci-fi anthology series would premiere before year's end.

The wait is over for more "Black Mirror" on Netflix. It's just not the fifth season fans expected.

Netflix dropped a trailer and premiere date for its first standalone "Black Mirror" movie on Thursday. The movie, called "Black Mirror: Bandersnatch," will debut on the streaming giant on Friday. The movie's Netflix page, seen below, went live last week, prompting speculation that it would premiere before the end of 2018.

black mirror

In "Bandersnatch," "Dunkirk" star Fionn Whitehead plays a game programmer tasked with creating a video game based on a classic novel called "Bandersnatch." It's directed by David Slade, who also directed the season four episode, "Metalhead."

Netflix acquired Charlie Brooker's sci-fi anthology series in 2015 after it became a hit on the UK's Channel 4. It has since released seasons three and four. Netflix has built a strategy around picking up the rights to British TV series and streaming them to a global audience. In doing so, it introduces the show to a larger audience and picks up subscribers for the company. Other examples include "The End of the F---ing World" and "Bodyguard," which debuted on Netflix this year.

While each episode of "Black Mirror" tells a self-contained story and is even considered TV movies at the Emmys, "Bandersnatch" is the first standalone movie not released as part of a TV season, and the trailer describes it as a "Black Mirror event."

In October, Bloomberg reported that the show's fifth season would premiere before the end of the year and include a "choose-your-own-adventure" episode, but no details for the new season have been revealed by Netflix.

Watch the full "Black Mirror: Bandersnatch" trailer below: