Netflix’s bet on a theatrical release for the “Stranger Things” series finale is looking like it will pay off, at least according to AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron, who teased that the theater chain would be ending on a high with a massive turnout for the event.
“Our year ends on a high: Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ series finale to show in many AMC theatres this week. Two days only New Year’s Eve and Jan 1. Theatres are packed. Many sellouts but seats still available,” Aron wrote in a Tuesday night X post.
Aron went on to encourage fans to guess just how many “Stranger Things” tickets AMC chains would sell during the finale’s short theatrical window, which runs from Dec. 31 at 5 p.m. PT through Jan. 1, 2026 — shorter than most opening weekends.
The AMC boss gave fans several hints to determine the ticket sale count, pointing to “Stranger Things” creator Ross Duffer’s reveal earlier in the week that 1.1 million movie theater tickets for the “Stranger Things” finale have been sold so far. He also hinted that AMC’s normal market share of the U.S. box office is around 26% and that just over one third of the theaters showing “Stranger Things” will be AMC theaters.
Aron noted that AMC will reveal the number of tickets that AMC sells for the “Stranger Things” finale “sometime between Friday and Monday.”
Given that Netflix notably doesn’t report box office numbers, and the streamer will not gain revenue from the “promotional screenings” (exhibitors are selling concession vouchers in place of a traditional ticket), the number from AMC alone will be instrumental in seeing just how successful the theatrical debut was.
A massive audience for the “Stranger Things” finale — both streaming and theatrically — is to be expected given the impressive audience the fifth and final season has pulled in so far.
When “Stranger Things” dropped the first four episodes of its fifth season on the day before Thanksgiving, Volume 1 debuted to 59.6 million views in its first five days on Netflix, marking the biggest premiere week for an English-language show in the streamer’s history. And after adding another three episodes with the Christmas Day release of Volume 2, the season tallied up another 34.5 million views across its seven episodes during the week of Dec. 22.
