The Stranger Things finale was a huge hit at the cinema

After nearly a decade, the story of Eleven and the Upside Down has come to an end, with the series finale of “Stranger Things” has only just been released on Netflix. The epic two-hour episode was also released in cinemas across the United States and was, by all accounts, a huge success. As strange as it may seem, all that foot traffic won’t have any impact at the box office.

The “Stranger Things” finale is estimated to have grossed up to $30 million in revenue between New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, according to Deadline. Except, technically, cinemas did not sell tickets for screenings. Instead, they sold discount vouchers so fans could reserve seats. That means Netflix won’t have any box office to report, technically speaking, but theaters got a lot of concession money from this deal. As AMC CEO Adam Aron noted in an official statement:

“Consumer demand was so high that AMC repeatedly and exponentially added thousands of additional showings at its participating locations. Ultimately, AMC had more than nine times the available seating capacity allocated to “Stranger Things” than originally envisioned. The price of admission was free, but required the mandatory purchase of a $20 per person food and beverage credit. As a result, AMC raised more than $15.0 million in just two days through “Stranger Things” sessions.

This fits perfectly with Netflix’s general strategy of prioritizing streaming and not worrying about the box office. “KPop Demon Hunters” will also be released in theaters in 2025but it was very limited. Likewise, it was a two-day event that generated a lot of buzz, but came with some caveats. On the one hand, Netflix went this route in part because it didn’t have an agreement with the “Stranger Things” cast for box office residuals.

By selling coupons, there was technically no money for the “Stranger Things” cast to fight over. Streaming residuals have already been a thorny problem for yearsand that, in some sense, seems like a way for Netflix to get around paying people.

Granted, Netflix isn’t taking the money either. Still, in the short term, it was great for theaters. I can attest that the Cinemark where I saw “Marty Supreme” on New Year’s Day was crowded, especially the concessions lines. Cinemas across the country were sold out. The numbers suggest that if Netflix had made a full weekend, the ‘Stranger Things’ series finale could have done “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” numbers at the box office (roughly speaking, a $60 million opening). This is amazing for something that people could have easily streamed at home.

AMC and Netflix have always had feuds that have kept Netflix movies from hitting the channel’s screens, but now they are finding ways to collaborate. That’s good, considering Netflix is ​​in the process of buying Warner Bros. The problem is that Netflix will offer WB movies for streaming much soonerwhich could seriously impact the box office. For now, though, AMC seems happy. Speaking further, Aron raised the prospect of AMC working more with Netflix in the future:

“Our company is excited about the prospect of bringing more Netflix content to moviegoers, and I might add that the working relationship between the two companies on our two recent projects has been straightforward, creative and transparent. So it’s no surprise that our two companies have already begun actively discussing additional Netflix programming that could be shown on AMC’s big screens.”

The series finale of “Stranger Things” is broadcast on Netflix.