Production on the fifth and final season of Netflix’s Stranger Things has been paused.
On Twitter, creators Matt and Ross Duffer confirmed that they’d be standing with the Writers Guild of America, who went on strike earlier in the week. “Writing does not stop when filming begins,” the Duffers wrote. “While we’re excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then — over and out.”
Duffers here. Writing does not stop when filming begins. While we’re excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then — over and out. #wgastrong
— stranger writers (@strangerwriters) May 6, 2023
Sources at Netflix later confirmed the delayed production to The Hollywood Reporter, though a new start date wasn’t given. With Stranger Things being one of the streamer’s big shows (if not its biggest show at the moment), the Duffers taking a stand in this way is pretty impactful in its own way. Even more so when you remember that the brothers struck an overall deal with Netflix. Through their production company Upside Down Pictures, the pair are working on a new live-action adaptation of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s manga Death Note, along with producing a Stranger Things play and executive producing the upcoming sci-fi series The Boroughs.
In the days following the writers strike, various shows and films, such as Marvel’s (eternally cursed) Blade movie have halted production. Due in part to a trio of striking writers, Paramount+’s Evil had an early wrap on its fourth season just ahead of the weekend. Some shows have bucked the trend, though: production on the individual second seasons of Andor, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and House of the Dragon are presently resuming, albeit without their respective showrunners or writers on hand. In the case of Andor, it may not be fully voluntarily, as Disney has reportedly ordered the showrunners for its various shows to do their duties as if nothing’s happening.
Until the writers strike comes to some kind of conclusion — hopefully one that benefits the creatives behind these big tentpole shows like Stranger Things — you can watch the first four previous seasons over on Netflix.