148 days after the Hollywood writers’ strike turned the film and television industry upside down, the writers of Netflix’s Stranger Things returned to work on Wednesday
In May, showrunners and series creators Matt and Ross Duffer announced on the official Twitter @strangerwriters that the fifth and final season of Stranger Things had delayed production as Hollywood writers organized pickets demanding fair pay from film studios and streaming services such as Netflix.
Writing doesn’t end when filming starts. While we are excited to start production with our incredible cast and crew, this is not possible during the strike. We hope that a fair agreement will be reached soon so that we can all get back to work. Until then, we wait.
– the Duffer brothers wrote on Twitter on May 6
The WGA strike ended on Wednesday, September 27, with the Writers Guild of America West Board and Writers Guild of America East Council voting to lift the ban and officially end the strike after nearly five months.
This allows writers to return to work during the ratification process, but does not affect members’ right to make the final decision on whether to approve the contract. Any striking writer who, prior to the strike period, was employed by the Company on a project or performance… will be reinstated in his employment at the end of the strike, provided that he continues to provide writing services for the specific program.
– wrote the WGA in a statement about the official agreement to end the strike
We are back for good and nothing will stop us!
“We’re back,” the Stranger Things authors wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. It is believed that the scripts for the fifth season of Stranger Things have already been written; writing for the final season began on August 2. Although previously closed writers’ rooms have been allowed to reopen and resume writing or rewriting scripts, production on Stranger Things 5 will not begin until the ongoing SAG-AFTRA actors’ strike is resolved .
I think the latest season answers an incredible number of questions about the story of Stranger Things and the world building presented
– said actor Finn Wolfhard in a recent interview about season 5 of Stranger Things .
I also think that many people will be happy to be back. It’s the last season, so in a sense we want to go back to the roots and what made the show so special and why the dynamics of the series are so special in the first place, and in a sense go back to what will be really exciting.
Wolfhard added:
Of course, I’m excited to come back and make this movie. I think it’s going to be very sad, but as a fan I’m also just excited to be a part of it and I can’t wait to see where everyone ends up – in fact, I don’t even know how it ends yet. I’ve only read the first three scripts [episodes], so we’ll see. But yes, I’m excited to see where all the characters’ journeys go.
Stranger Things season 4 premiered in 2022 and ended with a cliffhanger. In 2022, series star David Harbor projected a mid-2024 release date for the new season, but with productions halted for months due to twin strikes, Stranger Things season 5 will likely not hit Netflix until 2025 .