#we're talking final grand battle level VFX...

[chirpsythismorning]

Thoughts on this?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but 2024 is even a little optimistic in terms of a release for Stranger Things 5.

I know right now there's been this assumed expectation that it will release in 2024, and that's definitely still possible! But from what we've seen, no one from the production, neither the Duffers, the cast, nor Netflix themselves have said 2024 will be the year s5 releases, definitively. (If I remember correctly, when asked in an interview about s5 coming out in 2024, Noah dodged the question and said that they want it to be really good and are going to try to get it out as soon as they can... if anything he was trying to hint here that fans should be prepared that it might not be 2024, but that's okay bc that means that quality is being considered over a speedy release).

Again there have been talks about it, and I'm sure that's what they're shooting for. But they don't seem to be making any official statements about 2024 being a for sure thing. Because I mean, how could it be?

Covid did a really big number on the industry, especially production for ST4. Not only that but workers are starting to unionize and fight back against long hours, shitty wages and unsafe working conditions.

And so there's this unknown looming. Could the global pandemic reach a point that causes the industry to come to a halt again? Could there be a strike that stops productions from filming, including ST5? There's just a lot of unforeseen factors to keep in mind.

Our perception of how fast shows should be cranking out between seasons, are from a rose-tinted lens and honestly a little bit naive. We're not taking into account that those same expectations we have are based on an industry that has thrived off of malpractice for decades.

So, would I be mad if ST5 came out in 2025? No.

Also important to note that this is the end. I know that a lot of fans are impatient and just want the final season ASAP, but even so, when we do get it, it's over after that. There's nothing else to look forward to for fans when it comes to these characters. Arguably, hiatus will be the time we'll look back on and miss most when this is all over. So enjoy theorizing and analyzing during the wait while you still can!

And again, let's keep in mind, a sooner release means they might have to rush and make quick decisions that impact the story negatively, with them settling for results that could have been better had they had more time. Whereas a later release, or at least later than we may have hoped, will probably mean they got the essential time they needed and therefore a lot better quality for the final cut.

David Harbour said late last year that filming will start in the summer. Noah just mentioned a few times recently that he starts filming in May. But it was also mentioned in an interview promoting WYFSTW with Finn that filming would be starting in March.

Who knows for sure right now, it'll probably require us getting closer to the start to know. But the good news is once filming starts, they'll tell us! However, this does bring up an important aspect of all of this that fans also don't seem to take into consideration, which is scheduling.

The main cast are all hot commodities now, with most of them having multiple productions to film in one single year. And so, imagine trying to get about a dozen A-B listers schedule's to overlap? It's not easy.

Though from what I've read, David is dealing with schedule issues because he's filming another movie at the same time as s5. And Noah specifically mentioned school being a factor when he brought up filming starting in May for him. And so it's possible overall production for s5 could be starting sooner than we think, with some main cast-members starting earlier/later than others.

I think the main good news (everyone cheer) is that we have no new characters for s5. And so I think that will allow filming to take a little less time. S1 was a lot smaller scale in terms of the characters focused on, with production going from September 2015 to early 2016 and with a release in July that same year. But s1 was also very very small scale in comparison to what s5 will be. While filming for s5 will definitely be shorter than s4 in terms of over overall running time, it'll still be longer and just in general bigger than s1.

I'm gonna take an educated guess and say at least 9 months for filming s5, but it's possible they could run up to a year because of scheduling issues, unexpected delays, unforseen events, with some cast-members potentially working earlier/later than the majority of the production. Best case scenario, filming could be done by December 2023, and that's taking into account filming may indeed not start fully until May 2023. This would give them roughly 8-10 months of filming.

And that's not even including post-production for VFX, which is likely going to take upwards of 6 months at least, because the upside down is expected to be a main setting for the story in s5, meaning a lot more time spent working on visual effects despite filming already being complete. Then there's editing and all that good stuff. And don't even get me started on marketing (they're watching us rn taking notes for ST5 social media promo... Smile and wave boys!)

Again, I do think 2024 is possible, though it would have to be later in 2024. Summer 2024 is still a little too optimistic, but I wont rule it out bc they love summer releases.

March 22nd on the other hand, is very much pushing it, as they'd only be like 2 months into VFX at that point.

Though, I could see the vision of this, assuming it released in 2025 (lands on a Saturday that year, but still according to new theories March 21st is potentially an important date related to Henry/Vecna and it's the day s4 started the story off, so that's possible!)

March 21st 2025 would be my ideal date if they had to push it further out to a 2025 release. And that is a big possibility, which is why I think they're not out here comfortably sticking to a year right now.

It's also likely that when we find out the official year of release, we'll get a poster potentially or some kind of short teaser hyping up the final season.

ST5 2025 is kind of iconic. But I guess we'll just have to see!

Even though I don't think March 22nd 2024 is possible, it would be cool to get some major news on that day, like an exact release date for the final season maybe? That would be birthdaygate proof in and of itself.