Netflix may have significantly expanded their lineup of high profile and critically acclaimed in-house content since Stranger Things first debuted in 2016, but the series is still widely regarded as their undisputed marquee show. It took a bit for the Duffer brothers’ sci-fi horror to sink its teeth into the public consciousness, but by the time the second season arrived it was a fully-fledged cultural phenomenon.
Last year’s third run of episodes became the most-watched original Netflix series ever after racking up a massive 64 million views in just four weeks and now, expectations are sky-high for the upcoming fourth season. Unfortunately, however, fans are going to have to wait a little while longer for the gang’s next adventure after production was halted in March due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and with shooting yet to be given the all-clear to resume, there still hasn’t been a release date announced as of yet.
Of course, there’ve been reports in the past that the show’s fourth season might be the last (though it could be split into two parts), and while that remains to be confirmed by the streaming giant, we’ve now heard from our sources – the same ones that told us Netflix had green-lit an Extraction sequel and a Witcher prequel is in the works, both of which turned out to be correct – that the company are keen to end Stranger Things on a high note and they want to close the story with a big budget movie that will tie up all of the loose plot threads.
According to our intel, Netflix are aware that the core cast will soon be aging out of their roles, and they see a feature-length conclusion as the best way to bring Stranger Things to an end, with the story set to focus on the main characters closing the inter-dimensional gate to the Upside Down for good. We’ll stress that this isn’t a sure thing just yet, but we’ve been told that a feature film is definitely “being talked about” right now.
Netflix reportedly spent $80 million on the second season, with the third presumably even more expensive, so if they do end up making a Stranger Things movie, it could easily end up costing as much as Michael Bay’s $150 million 6 Underground or the reported $200 million they splurged on Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman. But no doubt, the investment will be worth it.
