The farewell to the successful series ‘Stranger Things’of Avatarnot only moved its fans, but became an unexpected box office hit during the end-of-year holidays. The final two-hour episode, released on New Year’s Eve under the title ‘Upside Down’attracted the public to the movie theaters, generating an estimated collection between $25 and $28 million in the United Statesaccording to Box Mojo Office numbers.
This unique event demonstrated the powerful appeal of the franchise, one of the most popular in Netflix history. The initiativea, which sold 1.1 million coupons for its screening, operated with a variable pricing model: chains such as AMC and Cinemark charged $20, while Regal Cinemas opted for a symbolic $11, in reference to the Eleven characterplayed by Millie Bobby Brown.
The economic impact was significant, especially for AMC, which with a third of participating theaters generated 15 million dollars in food and beverage sales alonethanks to more than 753,000 buyers.
The results come as positive news for exhibitors, who closed 2025 with ups and downs. Although domestic ticket sales (approximately $8.9 billion) showed a slight increase of 1.5% compared to the previous year, they are still below pre-pandemic levels (around 11,000 million).
The success of ‘Stranger Things’ joins other Christmas hits like ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash‘ and ‘The Maid‘ driving a solid season.
A new relationship between Netflix and movie theaters?
The event marks a possible turning point in the historically tense relationship between Netflix and movie theaters, traditionally reluctant to screen the streamer’s content for not respecting theatrical exclusivity deadlines. Fears have even grown with Netflix’s plans to buy Warner Bros.
However, the success of ‘Stranger Things’ It seems to open doors. Adam Aron, CEO of AMC, optimistically announced: “At AMC, we are excited about the possibility of bringing more Netflix content to theaters… Our two companies have already begun actively negotiating what additional Netflix programming can be shown on AMC’s giant screens.”
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