Before the sci-fi series \u201cStranger Things\u201d premiered on Netflix, several traditional studios had already passed on it. Its creators were first-time show runners, unknown young actors were cast in lead roles, and even though the show starred kids, it was not for children.<\/p>\n
That was nine years ago. <\/p>\n
The 1980s-set show about a monster that wreaks havoc on fictional Hawkins, Ind., hit a chord with Netflix\u2019s global subscribers. \u201cStranger Things\u201d has since become one of the streamer\u2019s most culturally significant shows, with its fourth season garnering 140.7 million views in its first three months and ranking third among its top English-language series. It was instrumental in growing new branches of business for Netflix, including live events, a Broadway production and inspired brands eager to partner on licensed merchandise. It became a major franchise for the platform, a chance to build a universe around its central characters and create its own version of \u201cStar Wars.\u201d <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rayna Lynn Chacon, 26, from Los Angeles dresses as Eleven from \u201cStranger Things\u201d during the Netflix x CicLAvia event.<\/p>\n
(Kayla Bartkowski \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
The show helped build Netflix\u2019s reputation as a place that makes big bets on original ideas and, if it\u2019s a hit, can build a large fandom for such programs with its worldwide subscriber base. <\/p>\n
Netflix took a chance on show runner brothers Matt and Ross Duffer. The pair never imagined the series, which held its first premiere in Silver Lake at Mack Sennett Studios, would take off the way it did.<\/p>\n
That wasn\u2019t lost on Matt Duffer, who stood on stage at the final season premiere inside the historic TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood earlier this month. It was the same place \u201cStar Wars\u201d premiered in 1977. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, as a nerd, this is a dream come true,\u201d Duffer told the audience.<\/p>\n
In an interview, Bela Bajaria, the chief content officer at Netflix, lauded the success of the series: \u201cYou could take a bet on an original story, and grow it to a major franchise that has massive global appeal.\u201d <\/p>\n
Other Netflix shows, like \u201cHouse of Cards,\u201d have certainly captured the zeitgeist before, but co-CEO Ted Sarandos said he believes \u201cStranger Things\u201d stands above some previous hits.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was a lot closer to a \u2018Star Wars\u2019 moment,\u201d Sarandos said speaking on stage at the \u201cStranger Things\u201d final season premiere in Hollywood earlier this month. \u201cThis is a show, and these are characters that move the culture, that spawned live events and consumer products and spinoffs and sequels … Everything from the first episode of the first season to \u2018The First Shadow,\u2019 the Broadway show, the origin story of the Upside Down, it has been and continues to be a remarkable addition to entertainment culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
The four past seasons of \u201cStranger Things\u201d made it into Netflix\u2019s Top 10 this past week, Netflix said. From 2020 to the second quarter of 2025, \u201cStranger Things\u201d earned more than $1 billion in global streaming revenue for Netflix and was responsible for more than 2 million new subscriber acquisitions, according to estimates from Parrot Analytics, which tracks streaming data. Netflix declined to comment on Parrot\u2019s estimates. <\/p>\n
\u201cEvery single streaming service needs that anchor series that drives customer acquisition and helps define the original programming,\u201d said Brandon Katz, director of insights and content strategy at Greenlight Analytics, adding for Hulu it was \u201cThe Handmaid\u2019s Tale\u201d and for Disney+, \u201cThe Mandalorian.\u201d \u201c\u2019Stranger Things\u2019 has undoubtedly been that for Netflix. Every few years that it does air, Netflix knows there is a guaranteed high ceiling of acquisition, retention and viewership power,\u201d Katz said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Participants bike past a Demogorgon sleigh during the Netflix x CicLAvia event.<\/p>\n
(Kayla Bartkowski \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
\u201cStranger Things\u201d also helped Netflix expand into licensed goods, with brands eager to partner with the platform. There are themed Eggo breakfast foods, Lego sets and clothing. <\/p>\n
The series \u201chas been a catalyst for Netflix to explore all of the ways in which a single entertainment property can be turned into an entire global lifestyle,\u201d said Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. <\/p>\n
Its popularity has helped other creative collaborators as well. <\/p>\n
Artists whose songs were featured on the show climbed the charts. Kate Bush\u2019s \u201cRunning Up That Hill\u201d<\/a> was featured in Season 4 and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 and No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, 37 years after its original release, Netflix said. Metallica\u2019s 1986 song \u201cMaster of Puppets<\/a>\u201d also broke the U.K. Top 30 for the first time after it played during the Season 4 finale, the streamer added. <\/p>\n The series has been recognized with more than 65 awards and 175 nominations. Netflix estimates \u201cStranger Things\u201d has helped create 8,000 production-related jobs in the U.S. over its five seasons and, since 2015, contributed more than $1.4 billion to U.S. GDP. In California, Netflix estimates the series contributed more than $500 million of GDP.<\/p>\n Netflix is doing a large marketing push with fan events in 28 cities and 21 countries as the series draws to a close. On Sunday, the streamer hosted a bike ride on a stretch of Melrose Avenue in partnership with CicLAvia where 50,000 fans were encouraged to dress in \u201980s attire, or as a \u201cStranger Things\u201d character. On Thursday, a \u201cStranger Things\u201d float appeared in the Macy\u2019s Thanksgiving Day parade. <\/p>\n The company began a phased release of the final season with four episodes that debuted Wednesday. Another three episodes will land on Christmas Day and a two-hour finale Dec. 31 on Netflix. The finale will also play in more than 350 movie theaters<\/a> in the U.S. and Canada on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.<\/p>\n \u201cStranger Things\u201d fans Kelly Audrain and Jason Serstock said they have been rewatching the show from the beginning to refresh their memories on the whole tale, and were still on Season 2 as of earlier this month. The couple attended the premiere of the last season in Hollywood. <\/p>\n \u201cThe whole costuming and everything was so perfect that you just feel like you\u2019re taken back to the \u201980s,\u201d 29-year-old Audrain said, who was dressed as \u201cStranger Things\u201d character Eleven in a pink dress and sporting a mock bloody nose.<\/p>\n Lilia Lupercio, 53, left, Audrey Haluska, 15, center, and Janet Lupercio, 45, right, from Downey pose for a photograph with a \u201cStranger Things\u201d backdrop. <\/p>\n (Kayla Bartkowski \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Netflix is expanding the show\u2019s universe with the animated series \u201cStranger Things: Tales from \u201885\u201d next year. In April, Netflix\u2019s \u201cStranger Things: The First Shadow<\/a>\u201d stage play hit Broadway. The company has also opened \u201cStranger Things\u201d pop-up stores, held live experiences and will feature immersive experiences at its Netflix House<\/a> locations, including \u201cStranger Things: Escape the Dark\u201d in Dallas. In Las Vegas, Netflix will offer themed foods like Surfer Boy Pizza at its Netflix Bites restaurant. <\/p>\n The Duffers recently told Deadline<\/a> a spinoff is in the works at Netflix. Bajaria declined to share anything about that but said, \u201cI think the world is really rich and there\u2019s still a lot of story in there.\u201d <\/p>\n But there are challenges ahead. Netflix, seen as the leader in subscription streaming, has had two major flagship series end this year \u2014 \u201cStranger Things\u201d and Korean-language drama \u201cSquid Game.\u201d Analysts say the company will need to keep pumping out popular shows and movies to keep subscribers coming back.<\/p>\n Netflix has successfully expanded its \u201cSquid Game\u201d franchise to include reality competition series \u201cSquid Game: The Challenge<\/a>,\u201d where more than 95% of watchers also tuned into the scripted series. Other popular franchises like Addams family series \u201cWednesday,\u201d pirates tale \u201cOne Piece\u201d and Regency-era romance \u201cBridgerton\u201d are ongoing. Netflix\u2019s hit animated movie \u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d will get a sequel.<\/p>\n Separately, Netflix placed a bid <\/a>on parts of Warner Bros. Discovery, with interest in Warner\u2019s Burbank studios and HBO, according to people familiar with the matter. If the acquisition is successful, it would greatly expand Netflix\u2019s library of titles and intellectual property. <\/p>\n While the Duffer brothers still have projects with Netflix, they recently signed a four-year exclusive deal <\/a>with Paramount for feature films, TV and streaming projects. Some industry observers viewed that as a loss for Netflix.<\/p>\n Omar Chavez, 42, left, and Jenna Chavez, 28, right, from West Hollywood walk past a poster during the Netflix x CicLAvia event.<\/p>\n (Kayla Bartkowski \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n \u201cThe Duffers are so young, and they\u2019re just really beginning their journey,\u201d said Tom Nunan, a former studio and network executive. \u201cI have no doubt they\u2019ll be pushing out more hits and more of a variety of successes in the future,\u201d he said, adding that the brothers\u2019 work at Paramount could compete with Netflix.<\/p>\n But Bajaria noted that the Duffers still have some projects in the works at Netflix, including sci-fi series \u201cThe Boroughs<\/a>\u201d and horror series \u201cSomething Very Bad Is Going to Happen<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re always gonna be part of the Netflix family and I\u2019m excited we still have more things with them,\u201d Bajaria said. <\/p>\n Times staff writer Meg James contributed to this article. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before the sci-fi series \u201cStranger Things\u201d premiered on Netflix, several traditional studios had already passed on it. 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