In that very same interview, Sarandos used the phrase “bespoke” to explain the small theatrical releases that the streamer has executed for movies such because the Knives Out sequel Glass Onion and final yr’s Oscar participant Emilia Pérez, dismissing them as one thing that needs to be executed for awards qualification and since “it helps with the press cycle a bit of bit.” As a substitute, Sarandos advised Selection, he encourages “each director we work with to give attention to the buyer, give attention to the followers.”
Sarcastically, that’s precisely what the Duffers have executed with Stranger Issues, and precisely why the finale must be in theaters. In a latest Selection profile, Matt Duffer bemoaned that streaming supplies a substandard model of a undertaking. “Folks don’t get to expertise how a lot effort and time is spent on sound and film, and so they’re seeing it at lowered high quality,” he mentioned, earlier than including, “Greater than that, it’s about experiencing it on the similar time with followers.”
That emphasis on “time with followers” appears to be the factor that’s getting Netflix to see previous its CEO’s unusual antipathy in the direction of theaters. The streamer already introduced its mega-hit KPop Demon Hunters to theaters for a sing-a-long occasion earlier within the yr, and can convey it again once more on Halloween weekend.
Will that be sufficient for Netflix to increase its “bespoke” runs and provides upcoming, highly-anticipated movies similar to Guillermo del Toro‘s Frankenstein and Wake Up Lifeless Man a full theatrical run? Most likely not. However the extra that Sarandos sees that the followers and common individuals he claims to serve do truly take pleasure in going to film theaters, perhaps he’ll get his head out of no matter the other way up he’s been in and put all of Netflix’s main choices on the large display screen, not simply Stranger Issues.
Stranger Issues season 5 premieres on Netflix on November 26, 2025.
