Stranger Things season 4 apparently cost $270 million overall

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In recent days, Netflix stock has plummeted by more than a third, and the company is losing members at an alarming pace. As a bright light, Stranger Things season 4 will premiere next month—but it now seems that the programme may really be a contributing factor.

image via netflix

Per-episode costs are estimated to be $30 million for the next season, according to individuals who are familiar with it, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal about the streaming service’s persistent issues.

There are nine episodes in the next series, and if the $270 million number is right, it works out to a startling amount. Yes, $270 million was spent on only one season of a single television programme.

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Netflix’s Stranger Things is clearly a huge thing, and the fourth season is sure to be even better. There is a lot more going on in the Hawkins family in the season 4 teaser for Stranger Things than was seen in the season 3 trailer, including new people and new places (Freddy Krueger himself).

The Duffer Brothers, the show’s creators, stated in an open letter to fans that this season would be the show’s longest and most aesthetically stunning ever.

It was “the most hard season yet, but also the most gratifying,” they stated before noting that Stranger Things 4 will broadcast in two volumes as a consequence of its lengthy runtime of almost two times the length of any prior season.

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However, $270 million is still a significant sum. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which grossed more than $1 billion at the movie office, is a good comparison. Game of Thrones’ last season, with an average budget of $15 million each episode, is dwarfed by this. At least Stranger Things is “cheaper” than the flicks Avengers: Endgame and Infinity War, which both cost over $500 million to produce.

Given Netflix’s limited financial resources and the fact that many of the individuals viewing it will already be customers, that number seems too high.

Is Netflix making the most of its money?

With the number of Netflix series cancelled this year surpassing ten, there is a prevalent belief among Netflix members that Netflix is too hasty to terminate. All four of the aforementioned shows, as well as the upcoming animated series Bone, will be cancelled in 2022 before the first episode has even aired.

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There’s also the news that Will Smith’s Bright 2 was cancelled last week, but it’s unclear if it was due to his Oscars slap incident or anything else.

In the past, we’ve discussed how this tendency has made us contemplate cancelling Netflix, and it seems that we’re not the only ones. For one thing, the number of streaming options has grown exponentially since Netflix’s first membership decline in a decade, and competition is fiercer than ever.

It seems to me that the best course of action would be to create a massive collection of must-see programmes that viewers can choose from, secure in the knowing that their personal favourites would get enough airtime.

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If Netflix has its way, members will be less inclined to renew their subscriptions as they tighten restrictions on account sharing and implement an ad-funded model. Forcing individuals who share accounts to pay may actually drive away more consumers.

Inevitably Stranger Things is a well-liked Netflix series, and its five-season order is well-deserved. In order to justify the $270 million investment, it’s going to have to work very hard to justify Archive 81 or Gentified’s many more seasons.

We’ll find out whether it was worth it on May 27 when volume 1 debuts.

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