Stranger Things has officially returned to Netflix, and it apparently cost an amount you’d probably never expect.
It doesn’t seem like it was long ago that we waved goodbye to the five seasons of Hawkins and the gang, but after being handed a two-hour final episode , fans were left starving for more.
In fact, people wanted more so badly that a theory started on social media that stated all signs pointed to a secret ninth episode that sadly never happened. So, instead, people had been left waiting for weeks and weeks until the Stranger Things: Tales From '85 animated series could be released.
Well, that day has come, as it officially drops on Netflix today.
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But it wasn’t a walk in the park to get here, as the streaming platform reportedly had to pay an eye-watering amount to make it happen – but it’s nothing compared to what it’s invested into the franchise before.
The new show, which is set in 1985, and follows the original cast as they 'unravel a paranormal mystery' between Stranger Things seasons one and two, and despite being an animation and not a live action with a CGI or actor budget in the traditional sense, estimates show it has cost so much more than you’d think.
What is the estimated budget of the Stranger Things spin off?
For a 10-episode season, according to industry insiders, it could cost the streaming platform anywhere from $3 to $5 million dollars per episode, which is nearly as much as season one’s $6 million per episode budget, per Prestige Online.
However, when you compare it to the $60 million Netflix paid to create the season five finale, it looks a little lax.
Now, while you might be busy picking your jaws up from off the floor as we debate whether millions of dollars is a small or large amount of money, there are a few reasons as to why this amount might be the case.
Why is the animated series cheaper than the live-action?
First, they are choosing to go with a 2D style, that’s more retro (think Scooby Doo or Archie and Friends, but better).
Created by Eric Robles, who developed Nickelodeon’s Fanboy & Chum Chum, per Yahoo!, the animation likely costs somewhere under a million, if we’re following the price range of the likes of Family Guy.
Then there’s the voice actors, who are unlikely to be paid the same as live acting stars now that Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Sadie Sink, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, and Noah Schnapp, aren’t reprising their roles for the project.
Of course, then you need to think about the set design, which is pretty much sorted for the animated series due to it being based on an existing world.
Netflix's Stranger Things cast look a little different (Netflix)What is the difference between the Stranger Things budget and the spin off’s budget?
From the above breakdown, it’s likely to only cost Netflix around 10 per cent of what the live action series did.
According to IMDB, it cost approximately $450 million to make season five and compared to the probable $40 million to create the animation, it’s surely worth the investment.
From paying the main cast around $9 million per episode, to building a detailed and life-like Upside Down via prosthetics, CGI, VFX, and set designs, there’s no telling how much Netflix had to fork out on the world-building element alone.
There was also the outfits that were 80s accurate, and a year-long filming schedule that had pre-production, production, and post-production crew and staffers (planners, designers, editors, camera operators).
Hello? Marketing? Understandably, the live-action cost what it had to in order to make it the beloved series it became.