Khaberni - The Stranger Things series concludes its journey with exceptional success beyond the boundaries of digital streaming, after the final episode of the famous work achieved revenues exceeding 25 million dollars in American cinemas, during a limited showing that coincided with New Year's celebrations, in an unprecedented step for a series produced by the Netflix platform.
Stranger Things: The Finale, which lasts about two hours, was shown simultaneously on Netflix and in about 600 cinemas on the night of December 31, before continuing additional shows throughout New Year's Day.
The AMC cinema chain alone accounted for more than a third of the participating cinemas, being the largest cinema network in the United States and the world.
According to media reports, the total revenues of the work ranged between 25 and 28 million dollars, setting a new record for Netflix works shown in cinemas, surpassing revenues from previous experiences of the platform, including a special concert that earned 18 million dollars in the summer of last year.
The cinematic release experience relied on an unconventional ticketing system, as audiences reserved their seats by purchasing coupons for food and beverages directly from the cinemas.
Both AMC and Cinemark set a standard ticket price of 20 dollars in most cases, while Regal Cinemas and a number of other chains priced the ticket at 11 dollars, in a symbolic nod to the character "Eleven", played by star Millie Bobby Brown.
The creators of the series, brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, announced that the number of coupons sold reached 1.1 million nationwide, while data from EntTelligence, a market research company, showed that attendance reached about 1.3 million viewers by New Year's Day.
AMC is expected to announce its final numbers after already revealing that it achieved 15 million dollars from sales of food and beverages, with more than 753,000 visitors inside its theaters.
In a comment, AMC CEO Adam Aron said via his account on the X platform, that the final shows witnessed intense turnout and many theaters were filled to capacity, suggesting that the experience might open the door to broader collaboration with Netflix in the future, amidst ongoing discussions to show more of the platform's content on the big screen.
Netflix had announced in October last year about the cinematic release of the final episode, retracting previous statements that confirmed the end of the series would not be shown in cinemas.
At that time, the Duffer brothers expressed their excitement for this step, affirming that watching the final episode on the big screen, amidst an audience of fans, represents the ideal way to celebrate the end of a years-long journey.
It is worth mentioning that the Stranger Things series, which started in 2016, is one of the most successful works of Netflix ever, as its fourth season alone achieved more than 140.7 million global views.
This cinematic success comes at a time when the platform seeks to redefine its relationship with cinemas, after years of tension due to exclusive showing policies and direct streaming.
