Netflix turns to theatres to launch Stranger Things animated spin‑off
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Stranger Things: Tales From '85 features the voice cast of (from left) Ben Plessala as Will, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport as Max, Braxton Quinney as Dustin, Brooklyn Davey Norstedt as Eleven, Luca Diaz as Mike and Elisha Williams as Lucas.
PHOTO: NETFLIX
LOS ANGELES – Netflix is inviting fans back into the supernatural world of Stranger Things (2016 to 2025) with limited theatrical screenings of its upcoming animated series Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, the streaming platform announced on March 17.
It said select AMC theatres will host special screenings of the first two episodes beginning on April 18, ahead of the show’s global release on April 23.
The screenings will take place in 34 theatres across the United States, as well as at the Paris Theater in New York and Netflix House Philadelphia.
The animated series reunites Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer as executive producers, alongside showrunner Eric Robles, best known for creating the animated Nickelodeon series Fanboy & Chum Chum (2009 to 2014).
Set in the winter of 1985, Tales From ’85 finds Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas and Max having settled back into something resembling normal life – filled with Dungeons & Dragons games, snowball fights and quiet days in Hawkins, Indiana.
But the peace is short-lived, as something terrifying awakens, forcing the group to band together once more to solve a mystery and save their town.
It marks the latest expansion of the Stranger Things universe, which has continued to grow since the Duffers launched their production company Upside Down Pictures in 2022 under an overall deal with Netflix. That agreement includes a planned live-action Stranger Things spin-off series.
Beyond television, the franchise has expanded into a Tony Award-winning Broadway stage play, video games, cosplay, immersive live experiences and a wide range of merchandise.
Stranger Things follows a group of adolescent friends in rural Indiana during the 1980s as they confront monsters from an alternate dimension known as the Upside Down. The series quickly became one of Netflix’s biggest breakout hits. REUTERS
