From the latest filming updates to the newest cast member, Hollywood Life has the latest news about ‘Stranger Things 5.’
The release of Stranger Things 5 is still a ways off, but we got a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the production in July 2024. According to a new YouTube video, cast and crew revealed they were “halfway through filming” the season. They even took fans through their set, as crew members worked to build it.
In the clip, the dark and gloomy set is clearly visible as one actor notes that season 4 was “big, but season 5 definitely feels bigger.”
In January, Netflix announced that season 5 production has officially begun. The streaming service included a black and white photo of the cast assembled in a room as they prepare to film the final season. The photo included cast members Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Finn Wolfhard, Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Charlie Heaton, Natalia Dyer, Joe Keery, Cara Buono, Maya Hawke, Linda Hamilton, Amybeth McNulty, Jamie Campbell Bower, Priah Ferguson, Brett Gelman, and the Duffer Brothers.
The team took it to Instagram to reveal the names of the upcoming episodes of the fifth season. The video that played the theme song in the background disclosed the titles which were “The Crawl,” “The Vanishing of _____,” “The Turnbow Trap,” “Sorcerer,” “Shock Jock,” “Escape From Camazotz,” “The Bridge,” and “The Rightside Up.” They also announced that the horror series will be coming back to the screens in 2025.
The team took to Instagram to reveal the titles of the upcoming episodes in the fifth season. The video, featuring the theme song in the background, disclosed the episode names: “The Crawl,” “The Vanishing of _____,” “The Turnbow Trap,” “Sorcerer,” “Shock Jock,” “Escape From Camazotz,” “The Bridge,” and “The Rightside Up.” They also announced that the horror series will return to screens in 2025.
Volume 1 of season 4 dropped on May 27, 2022, just in time for Memorial Day weekend. Volume 2 was released on July 1 ahead of the Fourth of July weekend. Season 4 arrived nearly 3 years after season 3 debuted in 2019. The Stranger Things crew went head-to-head with Vecna in the game-changing season 4 finale, but their fight with Vecna isn’t over yet.
Season 5 was supposed to start filming in 2023, but it was delayed due to the writers’ and SAG-AFTRA strikes that put Hollywood on hold. Stranger Things will be filming for a chunk of 2024, so it’s likely we’ll have to wait an entire year for the final season to premiere.
Despite all the love for Stranger Things, all good things must come to an end. On February 17, 2022, Netflix announced that season 5 would be the final season of Stranger Things. Hollywood Life has rounded up all the latest news we know about the fifth and final season.
Stranger Things will be coming full circle in the final season. The focus will be back on Will Byers in Stranger Things 5. “Will really takes center stage again in 5,” Ross Duffer told Variety for Noah Schnapp’s Power of Young Hollywood cover story, which was released on August 7. “This emotional arc for him is what we feel is going to hopefully tie the whole series together. Will is used to being the young one, the introverted one, the one that’s being protected. So part of his journey, it’s not just sexuality — it’s Will coming into his own as a young man.
Just as filming was about to get underway in May 2023, the Duffers released a note on the official Stranger Things writers’ page and gave an update about the status of season 5. “Duffers here. Writing does not stop when filming begins. While we’re excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then — over and out. #wgastrong,” the Duffers tweeted.
The Writers Guild of America went on strike on May 1 after negotiations broke down between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which includes companies like Netflix, Amazon, and Disney. The members of the WGA are asking for increased pay, better residuals, staffing requirements, and clarification about the use of AI. Almost two months later, SAG-AFTRA also went on strike. As of August 2023, both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA are still on strike.
On March 21, 2023, the Stranger Things writers’ Twitter account gave a little (but exciting) morsel about the fifth and final season. “Season 5 is like if season 1 and 4 had a baby. And then that baby was injected with steroids,” the tweet read.
During his March 2023 appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Gaten Matarazzo admitted that it’s going to be bittersweet to say goodbye to the show. “There’s kind of an excitement there because you always want to wrap it up and see how these characters are going to finally develop one last time, and how they’re going to finish their journeys. But also there’s like a deep fear. Not only has it been amazing, but it’s been pretty great job security for a while. Back to freelance,” he said.
When it comes to what he wants to see happen in the final season, Gaten said, “I’d love to see a good launchpad for growth. I’d love to see these characters thrive and move on from the trauma they’ve endured over the past few years.” You ain’t kidding.
In January 2023, Noah Schnapp revealed that Stranger Things season 5 would start filming in May 2023. He was asked during a TikTok Live session if the season 5 shooting schedule would interfere with his schooling at the University of Pennsylvania. “I’m done with school in May, and starting to shoot in May,” he said.
During Stranger Things Day on November 6, 2022, the season 5 premiere episode title was announced. The premiere is officially titled “Chapter One: The Crawl.” The first episode of the final season is written by The Duffer Brothers.
On September 20, 2022, the Stranger Things writers confirmed that the grid for the fifth and final season is “complete.” They revealed all the major plot points of season 5, but the entire photo was blurred to prevent spoilers. It appears that, as of right now, season 5 will consist of 8 episodes. Episode 7 is going to be a big one. A portion of the plot is blacked out along with the blurring to keep anything from leaking.
The Stranger Things writers revealed on August 2, 2022, that the writers’ room for the first and final season was officially underway. “Day 1,” the tweet read. The writers also included a photo of a whiteboard with just the Stranger Things 5 logo written on it. Ross Duffer previously revealed that the writers’ room would start in August. “We’re going to take a little vacation in July,” Ross told Collider. “And then we’re going to come back. I know that the writer’s room is going to start in that first week of August.”
When Netflix announced that season 4 would be split into two volumes, the streaming service also included a letter from the creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, a.
