With the SAG-AFTRA strike tentatively settled, actors can resume to work, which is great news for Stranger Things fans. The fifth and final season (a.k.a. Stranger Things 5) was just about to start filming when the strike hit. While it’s bad news that production got delayed, the good news is that Stranger Things will be one of the first Netflix series to fire back up and race towards a release date.
On the heels of the strike being resolved, Deadline reported that Stranger Things 5 would start filming in a “couple of weeks.” David Harbour, who plays Chief Jim Hopper on the hit series, corroborated that reporting in an interview with PEOPLE:
“I mean, I don’t know if we’ll be shooting next week, but yeah, as soon as possible,” he told PEOPLE, adding that he heard from showrunners immediately after news of the strike’s conclusion hit social media.
“They literally called me, I think it was 10 minutes after the SAG thing on Twitter,” he explained. “The first AD [assistant director] is like, ‘So, get the flight for you on Monday, right? We’ll be acting in Atlanta.’”
As for the Stranger Things 5 release date, Netflix hasn’t even announced a window, which is understandable given the delays caused by the strike. However, even with the rush to start filming, the final season is most likely dropping in 2025. The epic scale of the show requires months of filming followed by even more months of editing and special effects.
Given Stranger Things‘ penchant for May and July premieres, we’d probably say Summer 2025 is the most likely release date.
Stranger Things 1-4 are available for streaming on Netflix.