‘Stranger Things’ Episodes Cost $30 Million Each to Make, Which Is Why Season 4 Was 2 Parts
Stranger Things Season 4 brought a sense of scale to Hawkins, Indiana that is usually reserved for blockbuster movies. The CGI-heavy action setpieces, new locations, and the repeated use of “Running Up That Hill” doesn’t come without a considerable price tag. The cost of the season’s nine episodes wasn’t just a new high for the series. At the time, it was the most expensive streaming show of all time. The increased budget allowed the Duffer brothers to do things they could’ve only dreamed of when they first created Stranger Things. But the larger amount of money also exemplifies changes in the show’s storytelling style.
‘Stranger Things 4’ took the crew to bold new places
One of the defining elements of Stranger Things 4 is its newfound sprawl. The show made the surprising choice to keep its beloved cast scattered across America for large parts of the season. Mike, Dustin, Max, Lucas, Erica, Nancy, Steve, Robin, and Hellfire Club leader Eddie Munson are still at home, attempting to balance the natural growing pains at Hawkins High and the encroaching threat of Vecna’s Nightmare on Elm Street routine. Eleven, Will, and Jonathan are trying and mostly failing to start over in California. Meanwhile Joyce and Murray embark on a rescue mission to Russia to save Hopper.
All of the storylines being to converge as they begin to realize how much peril the world is in. Vecna is their most powerful foe yet. The being is capable of crawling inside the minds of traumatized people to kill them in grotesque ways. And it blurs the barrier between the Upside Down and normal life. While some of the kids attempt to find ways to stave off a possible apocalypse, Eleven is on a journey to regain her powers.
She finds herself just in time to help the rest of the gang launch a multi-stage attack on Vecna inside the Upside Down. Several intense action set pieces later, they are able to subdue Vecna, but not without serious consequences. Hawkins is all but destroyed and Max is in a coma after being brought back from the brink of death.
The budget for the season is unheard of for a Netflix show
Incorporating all of these new locations, visual effects, and extended fight scenes takes a lot of money. And Netflix spared no expense in giving the Stranger Things team the necessary resources for these ideas. The budget for each episode was reportedly $30 million.
The show received higher support with each season. According to Netflix Life, Season 1’s budget was $6 million per episode, Season 2’s was $8 million per episode, and Season 3 cost less than $10 million per episode. But an increase of this level was unprecedented for a streaming series.
It’s easy to see where the money was spent. The visions and limb-cracking deaths caused by Vecna are disturbingly real. And the excursions into the Upside Down are way more ornate in Season 4. Additionally, the salaries of the stars are deservedly high. David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown, and Winona Ryder reportedly earn between $300,000 and $350,000 an episode. Other members of the main cast, like Finn Wolfhard and Noah Schnapp, make about $250,000 an episode.
Stranger Things’ place as the most expensive streaming show ever did not last long. The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power has a whopping $58 million budget per episode, totaling $465 million for the entire first season.
The added spectacle changes the methods of the storytelling
Financial constraints due to the global pandemic cut down on the length of Season 4. This led to some other interesting choices, like extra-long episodes.
The Duffers have suggested that these movie-length episodes will also be present in Stranger Things Season 5. The larger budget likely plays a role in this decision. If you’re going to spend that much money on an episode, you might as well go full out and make each chapter as bombastic as possible. As we’ve seen in the film industry, a higher level of spend generally means that spectacle becomes the main priority over quieter character moments.
Given where Stranger Things left things last season, that’s to be expected. But anyone hoping that the show would find more time for the characters to deal with more realistic problems as they did in earlier seasons will likely be disappointed.
