Stranger Things Final Season Announces Beginning Of The End
The Netflix series Stranger Things is set to begin its fifth and final season and, according to Variety, production will likely start in early January, though there is no definitive start date yet announced. The new date for the start of production could still change, of course, having already been delayed for more than seven months because of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes that halted all of Hollywood.
Following Strike Delays, Production On Stranger Things Season 5 Starts In January
Production on the series was paused in May at the beginning of the writers’ strike, with showrunners Ross and Matt Duffer saying on social media that the beginning of production does not mean the end of writing as changes to scripts often need to be made during shooting and editing.
Finishing The Script
This is especially true with Stranger Things because, as the Duffer Brothers explained to Variety in July, the pair are executive producing their own scripts, meaning they frequently make changes on the fly. Though they were tight-lipped about how much progress had been made on the writing of Season 5 at the time, they had already begun scouting locations for production when the strike began. By July, all Ross Duffer could confirm based on his memory of the situation was that they had not been ready to begin filming with a locked script when the WGA strike started.
Linda Hamilton Joins The Cast
Of course, even after that strike was resolved, Stranger Things was still on hold along with the rest of Hollywood because of the SAG-AFTRA strike, which has thankfully also since been concluded. Season 5 will see the addition of Linda Hamilton of Terminator and Beauty and the Beast fame to the cast, along with director Dan Trachtenberg, well known for 10 Cloverfield Lane and the Predator prequel Prey, who will be taking the reins on at least one episode of the season. The Duffer brothers and their fellow executive producer Shawn Levy will also be returning to their regular roles as directors on the series.
David Harbour Knows How It All Ends
Series stars Winona Ryder and Millie Bobby Brown will also be returning for Stranger Things Season 5, along with fellow castmates Noah Schnapp, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Sadie Sink, Gates Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Charlie Heaton, Natalia Dyer, Priah Ferguson, Joe Keery, and Maya Hawke. According to David Harbour, in an interview with the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the new season will be bigger and more ambitious than anything the series has achieved so far. In the same interview, Harbour confirmed that he knows how the series will end, something that fans will have to wait to see unfold when the fifth season drops.
When To Expect The Final Season
Because it is so ambitious, however, it is likely that Stranger Things Season 5 will not premiere until 2025, giving fans even longer to wait to see how the series wraps up. In the meantime, however, there will likely be much interest in a new stage play that traces the origins of many elements of the series back to Hawkins, Indiana, in 1959. Written by Kate Trefry, a co-executive producer and writer for the series, Stranger Things: The First Shadow will premiere in London’s West End at The Phoenix Theater on December 14.
