In case you didn’t know, the Stranger Things series finale, which clocks in at 128 minutes, is set to be screened in theaters nationwide on New Year’s Eve, and it’s already shaping up to be a major theatrical event.
According to Variety, the finale has already received 1.1 million RSVPs in movie theaters, with 3500 showtimes across more than 620 theaters completely sold out.
“What a way to close out a ten-year journey—together,” series co-creator Ross Duffer wrote. “Maybe we’ll see some of you in LA.”
In case you’re wondering, that’s roughly $9M worth of tickets sold for the finale of Netflix’s ultra-popular hit series, and that’s only from pre-sales. Might we be looking at $20M for a single evening of showings? The fifth season is reported to have a $400M budget, costing around $50-60M per episode.
Premiering a TV episode simultaneously in theaters and on streaming is nearly unprecedented. The move mirrors the day-and-date release model used in film distribution, where movies debut in theaters and on streaming or VOD platforms at the same time.
This short-window theatrical run follows the streamer’s success with KPop Demon Hunters, which hit theaters for an entire week a few months back and ended up with a $20M weekend—despite the film having been available to stream on Netflix for many weeks prior.
Parts of Stranger Things Season 5—especially Volume 2—have drawn mixed responses from fans online, with some episodes being review-bombed on IMDb and other sites. Some viewers criticized plot and character decisions, with specific scenes (such as Will’s coming-out moment) drawing disproportionate negative reactions and being labeled “woke” or “cringey.”
Despite mixed reviews, fan excitement remains very high overall, and these theatrical pre-sales prove it.