After experiencing a rough couple of months thanks to bleeding subscribers, a drop in share prices, and a lawsuit because of those two things, Netflix kicked off the holiday weekend by dropping its highly anticipated (and very expensive) fourth season of its flagship series. To the surprise of no one, Stranger Things 4 went over like gangbusters.
In a much-needed win, the supernatural series completely shattered premiere weekend records at the streamer as the fourth season proved to be a global hit. “Stranger Things 4 has been running up that hill since Friday, becoming the biggest premiere weekend ever for an English language TV show on Netflix with 286.79 million hours viewed globally!” Netflix tweeted on Tuesday. “It also skyrocketed to the 001 spot in 83 countries — another premiere weekend record!”
Stranger Things 4 has been running up that hill since Friday, becoming the biggest premiere weekend ever for an English language TV show on Netflix with 286.79 million hours viewed globally!
It also skyrocketed to the 001 spot in 83 countries — another premiere weekend record! pic.twitter.com/2mRiT5XQLT
— Netflix (@netflix) May 31, 2022
As IndieWire notes, Stranger Things 4‘s viewing hours are a massive increase over the previous premiere weekend champ: Bridgerton Season 2, which only (“only”) had 193 million hours. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the runtime for Stranger Things 4 episodes are crazy long. Most episodes are around 75 minutes long, with the Part 1 finale coming in around two hours.
The overstuffed runtimes were a persistent criticism during early reviews of Stranger Things 4, but clearly, they’re not stopping Netflix subscribers from binge-watching the new season. As for where the heck they’re finding the time, we have no idea. You practically need a week off of work to watch all of them.
Stranger Things 4 Part 1 is currently streaming on Netflix.
(Via IndieWire)