Stranger Things Season 5 Smashes Records: 59.6 Million Views in 6 Days, the Biggest English-Language Premiere Week in Netflix History

Stranger Things season 5 has been out for about five minutes and it is already rewriting Netflix’s record book. Volume 1 dropped four episodes on November 26, and the audience showed up in force.

The numbers that matter (and the fine print)

• Views in premiere week: 59.6 million for Volume 1. That’s the biggest first-week launch ever for an English-language Netflix series.
• Why the English-language qualifier matters: earlier this year, Squid Game season 3 pulled 60.1 million views in just three days. Different lane, but worth noting.
• All-time stakes: it’s pacing to crash Netflix’s English-language top 10 for 30-day totals. For context, Wednesday season 1 sits at No. 1 with 252.1 million views in its first month, while Stranger Things season 4 did 140.7 million in its first 30 days.
• Release plan: the final season is split into three drops. Volume 2 lands December 25 with four more episodes, and Volume 3 is the standalone finale on December 31.
• Finale runtime: 2 hours and 5 minutes. Still a feature, but 14 minutes shorter than the season 4 capper.

About that finale

Netflix carved the last episode out as its own release, which is a savvy move if you like your hype concentrated. And the folks who’ve seen it are not exactly playing it cool.

'Having watched the final version of the final episode of the final season of Stranger Things, it is a masterpiece. The Duffers have stuck that landing. So 10 out of 10 perfect,' director Shawn Levy said earlier.

Bold words, but if the early viewership is any hint, the audience will be there to judge for themselves when Volume 2 hits on December 25 and the finale follows on December 31. If season 5 keeps this pace, expect it to make noise on those 30-day charts fast.