The Upside Down isn’t the only thing that’s scary about the final season of Stranger Things, its budget is absolutely wild. According to new reports, Netflix went all in for the fifth and final chapter of the hit series, spending a staggering $50 to $60 million per episode, making it one of the most expensive TV seasons ever produced.
Industry insider Kim Masters of Puck revealed that Netflix’s spending spree on Stranger Things Season 5 could total between $400 and $480 million, even though this final run has one fewer episode than Season 4.
To put that into perspective, that’s more than the entire production budget of some blockbuster films. Each episode is reportedly close to being feature-length, running between 90 minutes and two hours.
The show’s creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, are clearly aiming to go out with a cinematic bang. Considering the massive scope of the series and the emotional weight this final chapter carries, I guess they felt they needed a budget to match the scale of the final season.
After years of delays, Stranger Things is finally making its long-awaited return later this year, and Netflix is making it an event. Season 5 will roll out in three parts: the first four episodes drop on November 26, followed by three on December 25, and the finale arrives on December 31 to close out the year with one last trip to Hawkins.
This final season finds Eleven and her friends preparing for their last stand against Vecna. Still recovering from the chaos caused by the Rifts, the group must track down Vecna, who has vanished into the shadows.
With a new dark force rising, the stakes have never been higher as the gang bands together to end the terror once and for all.
The seres brings back Millie Bobby Brown returning as Eleven, Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair, David Harbour as Jim Hopper, Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers, and Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna, among others.
With a budget rivaling blockbuster movies, it seems like Netflix and the creative team are determined to send Stranger Things off in epic fashion. The Duffer Brothers have promised a cinematic conclusion to the story that started back in 2016, and with this kind of scale, fans are in for something truly special.
The countdown to the end of Hawkins has begun, and I hope that Stranger Things Season 5 is going to be an unforgettable and awesome experience.
