Stranger Things is one of Netflix’s most popular original shows and will debut its long-anticipated fourth season next month. The show has always had a sizable budget, but the upcoming fourth season of Stranger Things will be the most expensive one yet. As per The Wall Street Journal, Netflix has spent a whopping $30 million per episode on season 4. That’s three times more than the previous seasons of Stranger Things, which cost around $8-$10 million per episode.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
This news comes amid Netflix’s huge stock market crash, as its shares fell by 35% yesterday, erasing more than $50 billion of the company’s market value. The likely cause of the fall is Netflix’s recently released quarterly reports, which came with surprising revelations, including a net loss of 200,000 subscribers, with 2 million more estimated to leave the streamer in the next quarter. Netflix is planning to take drastic measures to boost its revenue and subscriber numbers, which include curbing password sharing and introducing an ad-supported, cheaper subscription plan.
The WSJ also reports that Netflix is rethinking its financial strategy and aims to reduce costs on new shows, order fewer episodes if possible, and will be more involved in the content department rather than giving the creators a free hand like before. Hopefully, that will reduce the cancellations of fan-favorite shows, which, in recent days, Netflix has carried out so frequently. Plus, Netflix has always been quite generous with the budgets, as evident from films like The Irishman and Red Notice, but it looks like the company is now seriously concerned about the falling profits.
As for Stranger Things, it remains one of Netflix’s most prized IPs, and the streamer is banking big on the show. Stranger Things season 4 will premiere in two parts, with the first five episodes dropping on Netflix on May 27, 2022, and the subsequent four episodes on July 1.
Stranger Things Renewed for a Fifth and Final Season
Netflix
Stranger Things was initially planned to last four seasons, but there was so much story to tell that creators Matt and Ross Duffer decided to conclude the show with a fifth season. However, that won’t be the end of Stranger Things, as the Duffer brothers have teased spin-offs set in the Stranger Things universe.
There is currently no word on what the spin-offs will be about, but we’ll likely get an idea about the future of Stranger Things when season 4 premieres next month.
