Netflix has witnessed an unprecedented surge in viewership as the fifth and final season of its flagship series, Stranger Things, obliterates the platform's premiere records for an English-language show.
A Staggering Premiere for Hawkins' Final Chapter
The streaming giant announced on Tuesday that Volume 1 of Stranger Things season five amassed a colossal 59.6 million views in its debut week. This performance not only secured the top position on Netflix's English TV list but also set a new benchmark for the biggest premiere week ever for an English series on the service.
The show's creators, brothers Ross and Matt Duffer, expressed their astonishment in a statement. "The sheer number of fans who have already watched Volume 1 is staggering — the response has been more than we ever could have dreamed," they said. "The show is now a decade old, and seeing the fanbase not only endure but continue to grow has been incredibly rewarding."
How the Record Compares to Other Netflix Giants
This new record surpasses the previous high held by the first season of Wednesday, which attracted approximately 56 million views in its first four days back in 2022. However, the overall premiere record on Netflix is still held by the Korean phenomenon Squid Game. The second season of Squid Game remains the undisputed champion with 68 million views, while its third season also sits ahead of Stranger Things in the all-time rankings.
The cultural impact of the sci-fi series, set in the 1980s in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, was further demonstrated by its global reach. Last week, all five seasons of Stranger Things ranked in the top 10 shows in all 93 countries tracked by Netflix, claiming the number one spot in 90 of them. This marks another first for an English-language series on the platform.
The Road to the Grand Finale
Since its debut in 2016, the series starring Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, and veterans like Winona Ryder and David Harbour, has cultivated a massive global following. Netflix reports that the first four seasons have now accumulated a combined total of over 1.2 billion views.
Fans won't have to wait long for the conclusion. The next three episodes are scheduled for release on Christmas Day. The saga will then culminate with a roughly two-hour finale, which will drop on Netflix and be shown in more than 500 cinemas worldwide on New Year's Eve.
The Duffer Brothers concluded their statement with a message of gratitude and anticipation: "We truly cannot thank everyone enough, and we are beyond excited to share Volume 2 — there’s so much more to come!" The record-breaking debut suggests audiences are equally excited to see how the story ends.
