Stranger Things Season 5 Could Be Coming To Netflix Sooner Than Fans Think
On November 8, SAG-AFTRA negotiators approved a deal with film studios, ending the strike dating back to July. Among numerous projects indefinitely delayed while actors were striking was "Stranger Things" Season 5. Not only can filming now resume on the upcoming season of Netflix's flagship series, but its release may also come even sooner than some fans might think.
According to a Deadline report about the strike's conclusion, "Stranger Things" in particular is a priority for Netflix. After producing less material than normal during the dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes' months-long duration, streaming services are purportedly looking to get some marquee shows back on track as soon as possible. Filming of "Stranger Things" Season 5 was about to kick off when the WGA announced its strike, so presumably, Netflix still has everything in order from that point in time. In fact, an unnamed source related that filming may begin just a couple of weeks out from the Deadline article's November 8 publication date.
Of course, completing the season will still take a considerable amount of time and effort, but at the very least, its start date now seems to be locked in, hastening this lengthy process.
It might still be well over a year before Stranger Things Season 5 hits Netflix
Even though Netflix is apparently planning on filming "Stranger Things" Season 5 in the immediate aftermath of the SAG-AFTRA strike coming to an end, the season is unlikely to premiere until sometime during 2025 at the earliest.
Given the show's growing popularity and the resultant increase in budget, the closest analog to Season 5's production is most likely the season just before it, rather than, say, the comparatively smaller-scale Season 1. That said, filming Season 4 was complicated considerably by the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in the United States — filming technically kicked off in February 2020 before shutting down shortly afterward. Eventually filming resumed in September of that same year and wrapped a year later in September 2021, most likely lengthened by pandemic safety measures. Season 4 then premiered in May 2022, eight months after that. Subtracting the pandemic delay and translating this same amount of time suggests a July 2025 premiere for Season 5.
Meanwhile, filming of Season 3 lasted from April to November 2018 before premiering in July 2019. Mapping even this shorter timeline onto Season 5 would result in filming ending sometime around May 2024 and a premiere around January 2025. Between the upcoming holiday season and its pricier production compared to Season 3, however, it's more likely that Season 5 will premiere sometime past 2025's midpoint.