The series "Stranger Things" has officially become the most popular project in Netflix's history, garnering over 1.2 billion views and bringing $1.4 billion in revenue to the US economy. This is reported by Variety citing data from the streaming platform.
Record Viewership Numbers
The fifth and final season of the series surpassed such popular Netflix projects as "Wednesday" and "Squid Game". Just the first four episodes of the final season gathered 102.6 million views in 25 days, and the season itself topped weekly ratings in 90 out of 93 countries where Netflix is available.
The most popular scene in the series' history was the scene from the seventh episode of the fourth season, where Nancy (Natalia Dyer) falls into a trance under Vecna's influence (Jamie Campbell Bower). Second place went to the final scene of the third season, where Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Suzie (Gabriella Pizzolo) sing a song from "The NeverEnding Story".
Economic Impact on the US
Over nine years, the series created over 8 thousand jobs in the production sector and added $1.4 billion to the US national GDP. Georgia felt the biggest impact, where most scenes were filmed — $650 million contribution to the state's GDP and involvement of over 2 thousand suppliers of various products. California took second place with a $500 million contribution.
Cultural Phenomenon
The impact of "Stranger Things" went far beyond streaming. The use of the song "Running Up That Hill" in the fourth season gave Kate Bush her first top-10 hit in the US 38 years after its release. The fifth season repeated this effect — according to Spotify data, among Generation Z, listening to Diana Ross's "Upside Down" increased by 1250%, and Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now" by 880%.
Interest in the board game Dungeons and Dragons grew by 673% since the series premiere, and the Eggo brand received a new wave of popularity after appearing in the show.
Final Episodes
The next three episodes of the fifth season will be released on December 26 on Netflix, and the last — eighth — episode will be available to Ukrainian viewers on January 1. By cumulative indicators, "Stranger Things" remains one of the most massive cultural projects of the decade.
