‘Stranger Things’ Season 5 Production Delayed by Writers Strike

Dan Clarendon May 7, 2023, 11:05 am

David Harbour as Jim Hopper in STRANGER THINGS Season 4 — Netflix

Stranger Things’ fifth and final season is stuck in pre-production for now, due to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike.

Matt and Ross Duffer, the creators of the Netflix hit, tweeted the news on Saturday, May 6.

“Duffers here,” the brothers wrote. “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.”

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

Netflix sources told The Hollywood Reporter that production on Season 5 would indeed be pushed back.

As the strike got going last week, Stranger Things writer Caitlin Schneiderhan tweeted a picket sign with a handwritten message reading “Pay us or Steve Harrington [Joe Keery] is toast.”

#wgastrong pic.twitter.com/NxwoNQ2oR7

— Schneiderjamz (@SchneiderJamz) May 4, 2023

The WGA started striking on Tuesday, May 2, as the union took issue with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers over wage floors, streaming viewership transparency, mini writers rooms, A.I. technology, and other issues.

Before the strike, production on Stranger Things Season 5 was set to begin in June, as actor David Harbour revealed in March, per Collider.

What the WGA Writers Strike Means for Your Favorite Shows

Even with the labor dispute, though, the wait for Season 5 surely won’t be as long as the wait for Season 4, which stretched on for nearly three years as the cast and crew produced a supersized season clocking in at 13 hours.

The Duffers told Collider last July that Season 5 will have a shorter runtime. “We thought Season 4 was going to be eight [episodes], and they were going to be regular length,” Matt said. “So if you had interviewed us before four, that’s what I would’ve said. I think we’re aiming for eight again. We don’t want it to be 13 hours. We’re aiming for more like 10 hours or something. I think it’s going to be longer than Season 1 because we just have so much to wrap up, but I don’t think it’s going to be as long as Season 4.”

Stranger Things, Fifth and Final Season, TBA, Netflix