From left: Gaten Matarazzo, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin and Noah Schnapp in season five of 'Stranger Things.' Courtesy of Netflix Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text The final season of Stranger Things roared to its best opening week ever - and the second-biggest premiere for any Netflix original series. The first four episodes of Stranger Things 5 racked up 59.6 million views worldwide in the five days after their Nov. 26 premiere, according to Netflix's first-party data. That's the highest opening week total to date for any English-language series on the streamer - passing the 50.1 million views for season one of Wednesday in November 2022 - and second among shows in all languages, behind only the 68 million views for season two of Squid Game in its first week. Related Stories Movies 'Stranger Things' Series Finale Runtime, Movie Theater Locations Revealed TV It Might Be Easier to List Who Netflix Is Not Partnering With on 'Stranger Things 5' Merch "The sheer number of fans who have already watched Volume 1 is staggering - the response has been more than we ever could have dreamed," Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer said in a statement. "The show is now a decade old, and seeing the fanbase not only endure but continue to grow has been incredibly rewarding for us, the actors, and the thousands of artists who helped bring this story to life. We truly cannot thank everyone enough, and we are beyond excited to share Volume 2 - there's so much more to come." The final season of Stranger Things was No. 1 in 90 of the 93 territories Netflix tracks (and made the top ten in the remaining three). The 59.6 million views was more than the combined total of the other shows in the English-language series top 10 - four of which were the previous seasons of Stranger Things. The prior seasons had a cumulative 25.1 million views (calculated as total viewing hours divided by running time). The four episodes of season five had 284.2 million hours of watch time worldwide, slightly less than the 286.9 million hours for the opening of season four (which debuted with seven episodes) in May 2022. At that time, Netflix didn't use its current formula for views. But with a run time of more than nine hours, those seven episodes generated about 31.13 million views. The first four episodes of season five clock in at a little under five hours, making a subscriber's investment of time to watch the first batch considerably shorter - and a view that much easier to attain for Netflix. THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day Subscribe Sign Up Vancouver Lori Loughlin Returns for 'When Calls the Heart' Season 14 Live Feed Regé-Jean Page to Star in and Executive Produce "Erotic" Thriller Series in Development at Netflix noads How to Stream 'Dancing With the Holidays,' the First-Ever 'DWTS' Holiday Special Live Feed 'Sesame Street' Delivers the 'Knives Out' Muppet Mystery the Internet Has Demanded Mad Men The 'Mad Men' 4K Stream on HBO Max Had So Many Problems (Not All of Which Involved a Barf Machine) Heat Vision 'Ahsoka' Actress Claudia Black Details Why She Exited Season 2 Over Pay: "Something Needs to Change" Vancouver Lori Loughlin Returns for 'When Calls the Heart' Season 14 Live Feed Regé-Jean Page to Star in and Executive Produce "Erotic" Thriller Series in Development at Netflix noads How to Stream 'Dancing With the Holidays,' the First-Ever 'DWTS' Holiday Special Live Feed 'Sesame Street' Delivers the 'Knives Out' Muppet Mystery the Internet Has Demanded Mad Men The 'Mad Men' 4K Stream on HBO Max Had So Many Problems (Not All of Which Involved a Barf Machine) Heat Vision 'Ahsoka' Actress Claudia Black Details Why She Exited Season 2 Over Pay: "Something Needs to Change"