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It's time to return to the Upside Down. Well, for the cast and crew of Stranger Things anyway, with Netflix confirming filming has begun on the wildly popular show's fifth and final season.
In a press release and on X/Twitter, Netflix revealed principal photography had officially started on Stranger Things season 5. The social media post was accompanied by a day one start date image, which showed the TV series' main cast captured having a read-through of one of season 5's scripts alongside the Duffer brothers, the duo behind the hugely successful series' creation.
🚨 THIS IS A CODE RED 🚨Stranger Things 5 production has officially begun! pic.twitter.com/ZO9WEr5Zo2January 8, 2024
It's high time that Stranger Things' final entry – or, rather, the main show's last installment – entered full production. It's been 18 months (at the time of writing) since the second part of Stranger Things season 4 was released in July 2022, so the supernatural horror sci-fi series' global fanbase have been getting tetchy about when the show's last season will be with us.
However, getting the cameras rolling on Stranger Things 5 has largely been out of the cast and crew's hands. Filming was expected to have commenced on one of the best Netflix shows' final seasons by now, but the 2023 Hollywood actors and writers strikes meant work on its scripts was delayed by several months, which also pushed back development in other areas. As we reported in December 2023, that means Stranger Things season 5 isn't expected to make its Netflix debut this year, which this filming start date all-but-confirms. The 80s-inspired show, then, won't spook its way back onto Netflix until 2025 at the very earliest.
Still, while it'll be a near-three-year wait for the final season of Stranger Things to launch on the world's best streaming service, there's been one project in Netflix's hit franchise that has seen the light of day. Stranger Things: The First Shadow, a prequel stage play set in the 1960s, recently began showing on London's West End. You can read our spoiler-free thoughts on The First Shadow to see whether it's must-see before season 5 arrives.
There have been other snippets of season 5 information to tide fans over until it's eventually released, too. In June 2023, we reported on the news that a major Terminator actor had joined the Stranger Things 5 cast, while the Duffer brothers told reporters in November 2022 that the fifth season of Stranger Things is shaping up to be the show's deadliest yet. Oh, and we also learned the name of the season 5 premiere title, aka 'The Crawl'. Read our four big theories on what Stranger Things season 5's first episode title could mean for the show's next entry.