'Stranger Things' Grossed $25 Million In The Theatrical Release Of The Finale
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Netflix has done it again with a successful theatrical release. The company ran the series finale of Stranger Things on December 31, 2025, and January 1, 2026, domestically in over 600 theaters. While the exact figure has not been released, the revenue from this event is estimated to be around $25 to $30 million, with $15 million coming from AMC theaters alone. To work around contractual terms, the company sold tickets as concession vouchers; as people reserved seats, it counted as concession revenue rather than box office. As Netflix approaches its acquisition of Warner Bros., a question arises about what future theatrical releases will look like.
What a normal run would look like for the streaming giant is unclear. According to Deadline, Netflix favors a 17-day theatrical run, far below the industry standard of six to nine weeks. Going this route would dramatically shift the landscape for theaters. A limited window creates scarcity; this scarcity could boost revenue in these short periods, but it could just as easily backfire. The situation relies on people being motivated to see the content in theaters, even when they know the window will be shorter and it will more than likely be put on a streaming platform once the window is up.
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AMC CEO Adam Aron commented on the theater chain’s partnership with Netflix, “At AMC, our company is excited about the prospect of taking more Netflix content to theatre goers, and I might add that the working relationship between the two companies in our two recent projects has been easy, creative, and seamless. It should come as no surprise then that our two companies already have actively commenced discussing what additional Netflix programming can be shown on AMC’s giant screens.” Warner Bros. is not mentioned in the statement.
AMC remains a strong proponent of the ~45-day run. During the WB merger talks, Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said, “There’s been a lot of talk about theatrical distribution, so we want to set the record straight: we are 100% committed to releasing Warner Bros. films in theaters with industry-standard windows.” What this will mean for theaters, and what Netflix deems “industry-standard,” is unclear at this time. One thing that is known with a fair bit of confidence is that Netflix-specific content has a future on the silver screen. While Stranger Things is no longer in theaters, the entire series is available to stream on Netflix.
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