Every Episode Of Stranger Things Season 5 Will Reportedly Be 90-120 Minutes Long, With Each Episode Having A Budget Of $50-$60 Million

Puck News- When Amazon announced last week that the company was hiring former Netflix executive Peter Friedlander as its new head of television, the collective sigh of relief from its TV team almost blew out the windows. The fear had been that the job would go to Chris McCarthy, one of Paramount’s short-lived C.E.O. throuple (alongside now-also-departed Brian Robbins and still-surviving George Cheeks). Bryan Lourd, CAA’s influential leader, was said to be going to bat for McCarthy, with client Taylor Sheridan baiting the hook.

But at Paramount, McCarthy had not been a beloved boss. Friedlander, however, is genuinely well-liked and well-regarded—and it isn’t every day that I get to say that. “Peter is fantastic,” the Duffer brothers (Matt and Ross) told me by email. “We worked really closely with him on this final season of Stranger Things, and he was incredibly supportive throughout. He’s always calm and coolheaded, even when things get tough. … He loves and trusts his artists. Amazon is lucky to have him.”

It’s understandable that the Duffer brothers would be enthusiastic Friedlander fans. According to a knowledgeable source, they got to spend $50 million to $60 million on each of the final-season episodes of Stranger Things, which run from 90 minutes to two hours long. 

Okay, I've read enough. I think we can officially move past all the jokes about how old the kids are after five seasons of Stranger Things or how long it took to finish this final season if all these numbers are correct. Sure, it's preposterous to think about how much the world has changed since season one premiered in July 2016 or even how different everything is since season four's finale in July 2022. To be honest, I feel like if you tell me a news story from a month ago, I will think it happened a year ago. But that's another blog for another day in this fucked up simulation we live in.

The bottom is a bunch of time has slid through hour glass and it appears the Duffer brothers were allowed to take their time cooking with money not being an issue in order to whip up the perfect main course they've spend almost a decade creating. As someone who once again lamented at how Thrones ended earlier this week, I cannot be more grateful that Netflix actually did that instead of penny pinching or trying to get a final season out just to help the stock price, appease the board, or a bunch of other big business buzzwords I don't truly understand. Instead, they appear to be doing everything they can to tie up all the loose ends that come with a long-running franchise that has a bunch of beloved characters. 

Which is why this tweet hit extra hard.

I'm not going to say that Stranger Things 5 will be in the same stratosphere as Endgame. But when you are trumping that movie's budget by $100 million as you close in on half a billy for a TV season with every episode having the runtime of a movie, you will at least get my #RE2PECT for doing everything in your power, or at least wallet. So now we just wait and trust the process Duffers.

For more on Stranger Things, check out our recap of the season four finale and get hyped for what should be a hell of a ride to the finish.