“Stranger Things” Two-Hour Finale To Get Historic Release in Theaters on New Year’s Eve

Stranger Things is going to go out with the biggest possible bang for a television series. The Duffer Brothers’ game-changing Netflix series’ two-hour finale, titled “The Rightside Up,” will have a simultaneous premiere on the streamer and more than 350 movie theaters on December 31st, beginning at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. The finale will stay in theaters through January 1, 2026.

It’s an appropriately historic end for a series that has been a phenomenon on Netflix and made stars of many of its cast members, cementing the Duffer Brothers’ status as big-time storytellers. It’s the first time a Netflix series has gotten a theatrical release, and it will give the largest possible canvas to what should be an explosive and emotional send-off.

In an interview with Variety, the Duffer Brothers explained why a New Year’s Eve theatrical release would be so special.

“People don’t get to experience how much time and effort is spent on sound and picture, and they’re seeing it at reduced quality,” Matt told Variety. “More than that, it’s about experiencing it at the same time with fans.”

“That would be amazing,” Ross added. “Because the fans could be there with other fans, and experience it as a communal thing — it would be incredible.”

The theatrical release for the Stranger Things finale follows Netflix’s approach to selecting certain features, but not all, for a run on the big screen. Most recently, films from big-name directors who worked on features for Netflix got Oscar-qualifying theatrical runs—Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is currently playing in theaters, as did Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite (which streams on Netflix today) and Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly. Next year, Greta Gerwig’s Narnia will get a theatrical run, as past films like Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman and other prestige films have, too.

Yet this is a first for a television series, fitting given how impactful Stranger Things has been over its 5-season run. The decision to exhibit the finale in theaters can partly be attributed to the overwhelming excitement fans expressed after Variety‘s cover story with the Duffers was published—a Variety Instagram post has more than 40,000 likes from fans eager to see the two-hour capper on the big screen.

Their wish has been granted. The final battle with the demons of the Upside Down will be screening in theaters across the country.

Featured image: STRANGER THINGS. (L to R) Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair, Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, Joe Keery as Steve Harrington, Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers, and Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson in STRANGER THINGS. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025