Production of 'Stranger Things' season five has begun

Netflix has announced that season five of Stranger Things is officially in production. 

The science-fiction show, which first aired in 2016, is one of the streaming service’s most popular releases. The fifth season marks the end of the series, much to the dismay of many fans.

Filming was set to begin last year, but the writers and actors strikes – which dominated Hollywood for a large chunk of 2023 – led to a delay. “While we’re excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike,” the Duffer Brothers Tweeted back in May.

However, since strike agreements have been made, the production of Stranger Things is now back on track. Netflix posted an image of the cast and crew gathered by a red sign reading ‘5’ on January 8th, captioning it “THIS IS A CODE RED. Stranger Things 5 production has officially begun!”

Season four of the show was its most successful instalment yet, raking in over one billion hours of watched time in its first 28 days of release. 

Discussing the upcoming final season, Finn Wolfhard told Collider last year, “Well, I think it answers an insane amount of questions about the lore of Stranger Things, the world-building.” 

He added, “I think a lot of people will be happy… It’s the last season, so we kind of want to get back to the roots of why the show was so special in the first place, and why the dynamics are so special in the first place, and sort of getting back to that.”