Max levitating with her eyes white in Stranger Things season 4
By
Rianna de Bono-Smith
Published 21 minutes ago
Rianna is the Movie News Editor for ScreenRant. After earning her BA in Film Studies, she began her career as an entertainment writer, contributing to several publications before joining ScreenRant. Her dissertation on the impact of streaming on traditional cinema sharpened her focus on the ever-evolving world of film and media. With 6 years in the industry, Rianna continues to cover the stories she loves while also advocating for awareness and representation of rare disabilities, such as Moebius Syndrome, which she lives with.
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The Duffer Brothers are currently anticipating the release of their final season of Stranger Things, which will debut on Netflix on November 26 with four episodes. The creators have been opening up on their deal with Netflix, including what they learned from Game of Thrones.
In an interview with Variety, Matt and Ross Duffer were asked about their strategies, as well as any projects they drew inspiration from or made a point to avoid, and how Stranger Things came to be when it premiered in 2016. Matt spoke of the fantasy TV show Game of Thrones and how that inspired the creators:
"In terms of television, we always looked to “Game of Thrones” and what [showrunners] Dan [Weiss] and David [Benioff] did. They used the success to scale the show up and evolve it, and it snowballed. We would always take that example to Netflix for reasons why we should scale up the show: It’ll scale up the audience. At least, that was what we told them."
Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
Matt also said another inspiration was the divisive filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan and how he went from a "total dud" to the "massive phenomenon" The Sixth Sense.
"He continued to do some version of the twist thing, but I thought he took a lot of pretty exciting risks. He kept making original films. I don’t know if I was consciously thinking about it after Stranger Things, but he’s been such a big part of our life," stated Matt.
Stranger Things has been a major talking point for nearly a decade and has reportedly generated over $1 billion in revenue for Netflix since it premiered. It’s a sci-fi series focusing on the small fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, where a group of kids discovers what’s really going on and why a girl named Eleven has telekinetic powers, and their friend is missing.
Game of Thrones significantly increased its budget per season and initially began with around $6 million per episode and grew to $10 million per episode by season six. The final season had a budget of around $15 million per episode for a total of $90 million.
Stranger Things also started similarly with $6 million per episode, rising to an estimated $50–60 million per episode for season 5, which is a significant increase, especially compared to Game of Thrones.
Stranger Things season 5 will release Volume 1 on November 26, followed by Volume 2 on December 25, and the finale will be released on Netflix on December 31.
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10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed TV-14 Drama Mystery Horror Science Fiction Release Date 2016 - 2025-00-00 Network Netflix Showrunner Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer Directors Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Nimród Antal, Uta Briesewitz Writers Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock
7 Images
Eleven looking into an opening of the Upside Down with pink light in Stranger Things season 1
Jim Hopper (David Harbour) grabbing Jonathan's (Charlie Heaton) shoulders in Stranger Things season 1©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
Eleven with cables all over her head in Stranger Things season 4
Vecna looking towards Will in the trailer for Stranger Things season 5 (2025)
Max and Eleven in Stranger ThingsNetflix
Stranger Things season 2, episode 2 "Trick or Treat, Freak".MovieStillsDB
The Upside Down in Stranger Things season 5Courtesy of Netflix Close
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Millie Bobby Brown
Jane 'Eleven' Hopper
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