Netflix's new trailer for Stranger Things season 4 confirms the sci-fi phenomenon will return in 2022 - and here's why production is taking so long. The third season of Stranger Things released on July 4, 2019, perfectly timed for its Independence Day theme. Stranger Things season 3 ended on a dramatic note, with Hopper apparently killed and the Byers family leaving Hawkins with a (temporarily?) depowered Eleven.
Since July 2019, viewers have waited eagerly for news about the new season and a release date. The production team has always emphasized quality over speed, meaning there have been hefty gaps between previous seasons, but this time round things have taken even longer. Netflix has finally released a Stranger Things season 4 trailer confirming a 2022 release, although no specific date has been given just yet. So just why is this season taking so long?
It's important to begin by recognizing the sheer scale of Stranger Things season 4. Until now, the show has been centered around Georgia, but season 4 has left Hawkins behind and, as a result, there are a lot of location shots around the globe. The cast and crew traveled to Vilnius, Lithuania in late 2019, where they shot scenes related to Hopper's escape from a Russian prison. They're currently filming at Netflix's studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where - according to Deadline - they're shooting "a significant portion" of season 4. As executive producer Shawn Levy recently explained, "this is the first season where we have this sprawling geography, multiple location shoots." This international production is naturally taking longer.
As Levy explained when discussing Stranger Things' delays, the production of this show is very different to most TV series.
"The reason Stranger Things take so long is everything is handmade by a very small group of us. The brothers, they want to direct a certain number of episodes every year, I have to direct my episodes every year. We have to be in the edit room and lay hands on all of it ourselves. If you look at the show, there's no like 12 executive producers. It's still a very small group and the controls are rigorous on each episode and on anything that the franchise does, whether it's the drive-through experience in LA or a Nike sneaker that was put out in the summer of 2019, we see and to approve it all."
And then, of course, there is the additional problem of the coronavirus pandemic. Filming began in February 2020, but all Netflix productions ground to a halt in March due to the pandemic and its associated lockdowns; Stranger Things didn't resume production until November. The Duffer brothers used this as an opportunity to work on the scripts, and - for the first time ever - they'd completely finished writing the season before shooting recommenced. According to Levy, this allowed the team to conduct a lot more rewrites than usual, "so the quality of these screenplays are exceptional, maybe better than ever," he insisted. If Levy is right, Stranger Things season 4 will be better than ever.
Production may be underway again, but unfortunately the pandemic is still having an effect - simply because of additional health and safety requirements. "It's definitely a slower process than usual, which is really saying something because we take our sweet time making the show anyway," star Gaten Matarazzo told People in an interview. "So it's not as steady-paced or as consistent as I think any of us would like it to be, but we do our best and we're playing it by ear... And I think the most important thing is that when we're working, we're all staying safe." Sadly, then, it seems all these factors have become something of a perfect storm, meaning Stranger Things season 4 won't be coming out until 2022. Still, it will certainly be worth the wait.
https://ift.tt/37qWqIw
August 07, 2021 at 12:18AM
