Stranger Things Season 5: 650 Hours of Footage for Epic Finale

Netflix’s Stranger Things Season 5 is gearing up to be the biggest season yet. The Duffer Brothers revealed that the final season will be “eight blockbuster movies,” and they’ve captured over 650 hours of footage. While that might sound wild, it’s not as crazy as it seems in Hollywood. For context, high-budget projects often work with large amounts of footage relative to their final runtime. For example, Deadpool had 555 hours of raw footage for a 108-minute movie, which was a ratio of 308:1.

In the case of Stranger Things Season 5, with a 65:1 ratio, that’s about the expected norm for a project of this scope. There are numerous takes, extended sequences, and scenes that won’t make the final cut. Editing will be a crucial part of crafting the story and flow of the season.

Despite the Duffers’ blockbuster claim, actor Finn Wolfhard offered some perspective. He acknowledged that while the season is long, not every episode will be movie-length. Some episodes may run closer to 40 or 45 minutes, and not everyone will feel like a full-blown movie. But, even with shorter episodes, the season will be massive, with some certainly reaching “blockbuster” status in terms of visuals and production.

Whatever the runtime of each episode, it's clear that Season 5 is set to be epic, larger than anything we've seen before. The final two episodes of Season 4 gave us a glimpse into this blockbuster scale, and fans can expect even more thrilling content as the series heads toward its grand conclusion.