Stranger Things cast and crew are chomping at the bit to begin production on the fifth and final season of the hit Netflix series. Shawn Levy, producer of the show, says filming will resume as soon as the SAG-AFTRA strike is over.
The writing team returned to work in early August after the WGA strike ended on September 25. The first episode, “The Crawl,” is finished and just waiting for actors to resume their posts before filming begins. The fifth season was supposed to start pre-production and principal photography in May. Now, three months later, the conclusive season is nearing its debut.
Levy’s comments offer some clarity on when we might see the final season of Stranger Things, which has been thrown for a loop with the Hollywood strikes. While it’s just one of many shows and movies that have been delayed, it’s one of the most high-profile projects because of its massive popularity and because the younger actors in the cast are growing well past their ages on the show.
“I can say that we are hoping to start filming as soon as possible,” Levy said in an interview with The Wrap. “We really need the actor’s strike resolved first. The Duffers have been hard at work since the writer strike ended. We’re busy on a bunch of fronts because we also have our Stranger Things play opening in London imminently. It’s fabulous. It’s f-king awesome.”
The play Stranger Things: The First Shadow peeks into the past of Hopper, Joyce, the Wheelers, and other characters when they were the same age as Mike, Dustin, Will, and Lucas.
“It has exceeded all our expectations,” Levy said in The Wrap interview. “We’re very excited to share that with the world. We are raring to go – our cast, our crew. Everyone not only needs to get back to work because we have many hundreds of crew members who have not been able to make a living since the strikes began, but we will be shooting very shortly after the actor’s strike ends.”
While those in London can catch the play while waiting for the release of the final season of Stranger Things, it’s a waiting game for everyone else. Levy has not stated a release date yet, as the SAG-AFTRA negotiations are still ongoing.