The episodes were filmed: how many "Very Strange Cases" will be collected in Russian cinemas

The weekend after the release of the fifth and final season of the TV series "Very Strange Things" will offer domestic moviegoers to see the available episodes in Russian cinemas. The ticket price ranges from 600 to 3,400 rubles, there are still a lot of empty seats, and you can calculate how much money this will bring to the ticket office of the venues. The first four episodes were released on the night of November 26-27 and are available on Netflix by subscription and for free on many Internet sites, and can be watched with the official Russian dubbing or subtitles. Izvestia appreciated the new season and its prospects in Russian cinemas, where the screenings will begin on Friday.

Where "Very Strange Cases" will be released

On the night of November 26-27, dozens, maybe even hundreds of thousands of people in Eurasia did not sleep. At 4 a.m. Moscow time (it was still the evening of November 26 in the United States), four episodes of the final season of Stranger Things, one of the main TV series of the 21st century, appeared on Netflix. The online cinema immediately collapsed: for several minutes around the world, many Netflix users stopped working, and then, according to Variety, some viewers had access disruptions. A little more time passed, and all the episodes were scattered on the Internet, fortunately, Netflix releases content with a large number of tracks.

Russian Russian dubbing, albeit not very high-quality, and Russian subtitles are available for "Very Strange Cases." It's scary to imagine how many people were late for work, how many employees stealthily watched these episodes in offices and on transport, and how many were looking forward to the evening to watch the series comfortably.

The final, fifth season of Stranger Things is not just a few hours of content worth half a billion dollars. It has long been a pop cultural phenomenon with a huge fan base. It's not for nothing that marketplaces are full of all kinds of products under this brand, including even a LEGO set with 2000+ parts with your favorite characters, plus the opportunity to buy branded figures there for a lot of money. In addition to T-shirts, there are also Christmas decorations (the last episode will be released, by the way, on December 31), socks, a million phone cases and many more different souvenirs. Soft toys in the form of a demogorgon, the same symbol of "Very Strange Things" as the xenomorph from Alien, are particularly popular.

All this is available in all countries, but in Russia, the hype around "Very Strange Cases" has forced some cinemas to announce double episodes of the series in their schedules this weekend. About ten venues in Moscow, plus halls in other cities, expect to attract a fan base to themselves, and episodes will be dubbed in the pre-screening format. Tickets can reach up to 3,400 rubles, but on average they cost from 600 to 1 thousand rubles. At most venues, the sessions are only on Saturday and Sunday, in rare cases — on Friday.

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As of Thursday evening, most of the weekend's shows were, to put it mildly, not sold out. Most often, it was seen that no more than 10 seats had been purchased in the hall. The popularity of the series in this case works both for and against attendance. When the expectation rating is so high, not every fan will agree to wait for the weekend to go to the movies with friends or family, and there is a high risk that by the weekend the public will have to watch the episodes if they really like them. On the other hand, the calculation of the sites that plan to show "Very strange cases" is also obvious.

Let's take the data from the last weekend in Russia and see that the films "The Illusion of Deception" and "August" have the highest operating time per session, about 15 thousand rubles per session. Accordingly, if you sell at least five VIP tickets for 3,400, the figure will already be higher. Or 15 tickets for 1 thousand rubles is quite realistic, because someone can buy them right before the session, and now, perhaps, these people are waiting for the first reviews to understand whether it is worth paying money or watching the series at home for free. And this is also the case when a company goes to the cinema, and among the fans of the series there are both students and the middle class, that is, a paying audience for whom this is not just a trip to the cinema, but a geek event.

Considering that the closer we get to the weekend, the more "Stranger Things" shows appear in cinemas across the country, we can expect that there will be at least a hundred screenings. And if we take the operating time of 15 thousand per session, then the modest initial forecasts of 200 thousand total cash will turn into about 1.5 million rubles or even more. However, no one will undertake to confirm these figures, since the sessions are linked to short films. But in the end, cinemas will receive both this money and proceeds from the bar, because there will be popcorn, cola, and beer: the average check in a cinema consists of less than half of the actual ticket price.

How did the fifth season of Stranger Things turn out?

It's useless to retell the plot of the series. If you watched it, then you remember everything perfectly well, especially since before the release of the fifth season, everything was urgently reviewed by the past, Netflix released a "recap", from which, however, nothing much could be understood. And if you haven't watched it, then you probably won't be interested in the fifth season either. Unless you're the kind of person who doesn't watch TV shows until they're released in their entirety, so you don't have to spend years waiting for sequels.

Therefore, let's say briefly: in the tiny town of Hawkins, Indiana, scientists have explored to the point that they have opened a portal to another dimension, and one of their experimental "mice" has turned into the main monster, the ruler of this hell for Centuries, the victory over which ended the fourth season. The main characters of the series are teenage friends who have turned into boys and girls by the end. Among them is another former test subject named Odie and the once-abducted Teenage boy Will.

The fifth season begins with the military building a huge military base in Hawkins, the whole town is now considered closed, there is a curfew, and people in uniform are sent to parallel space in cars and helicopters. It's hard to say what they're looking for, but they're being led by a certain Kay, a new character played by Linda Hamilton. This actress, known to the world as Sarah Connor from the Terminator films, and her appearance in the series, filled with nostalgia for the 1980s, contains an important symbolic meaning.

Spoilers in this case are hardly acceptable, let's just say that the children of the city are in danger of a new danger, but for now the heroes are preparing to go to another dimension, find Vecna and deal with him definitively, because they believe that he survived after the defeat last season.

Netflix usually releases seasons either in their entirety or in two parts. This time, he divided "Very Strange Cases" into three. Four episodes have been released now, three more on December 25 (26), the last one in Russia will be available on New Year's Eve, and this should have something to do with the plot.

Perhaps it would be correct to say that the ideal viewer of the series is people 40+. They will instantly read all the quotes and Easter eggs that this movie is full of. There are especially many of them in the fifth season. The Sinister Dead is also here, and it's funny that the first two episodes of the series are horror films, and the third is a black comedy, like classic horror films about resurrected zombies. They recognize the cartoon "The Sword in the Stone" from the first frames, which the characters watch and which, by the way, is somewhat similar in plot to the series. They played Ghouls'n Ghosts on consoles of that time, they remember what kryptonite was and why Superman loses his power when approaching this artifact. After the first chords, they will sing along to ABBA with the hit Fernando. And when the characters start discussing the Einstein–Rosen Bridge, any geek will immediately continue with quotes from the TV series "Gliding". And then there's "Home Alone," "Death Suits Her," "Hellraiser," "Cobra," and a million other hits from the era of video recorders.

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What to watch at the cinema this weekend

On the other hand, the Duffer brothers, the creators of Very Strange Cases, still follow the universal paths of a fairy tale. In the fifth season, we will suddenly see "Little Red Riding Hood" and the legend of the piper luring children. It is, in a sense, a constructor consisting of easily identifiable elements, postmodernism with a human face. But it's also one that allows you to recognize new classics here, including "Some of us" and even, paradoxically, the latest "Battle after Battle."

But it's noteworthy that the fashion for the 80s didn't start today, and "Very Strange Things" is still in the top. And the biggest horror after watching four episodes is that now you have to wait another month, worrying and wondering what will happen next. What is the reason? Let's try to guess.

The most important theme of the fifth season is the house. Throughout the series, they explained to us that walls don't help at home. The heroes were vulnerable there. Monsters, soldiers, police, criminals, punks broke into the house. And in season five, home is the space where you're most vulnerable. Here, the image of a dream home arises — one around which the weather is always beautiful, where there are beautiful clothes in the closets, plenty of food, and nothing threatens. Everything is there, but you can't go into the woods, otherwise it will be bad. A fabulous house. The house is a trap. But it's good there, I'm drawn there, I want to stay there longer.

The popularity of "Very Strange Cases" is just like such a trap. We all feel vulnerable too. It's enough to turn on the news to discover that our house can easily become part of the collateral damage from the fortress. And no one will help. It can be scary at home, you can easily lose it, and you never know what kind of monsters can invade there. And when the piper calls, you agree to a fairy tale house, even if it's fantastic, but one where you can relax.

One of the heroines says an important monologue about this, where she says that when you find yourself in such a cozy trap and realize it, you have three choices: commit suicide, obey and relax, or escape. The question, however, is where and how to escape, but you have to make a choice. It's an uncomfortable thought, but for the authors of the series it's fundamental: their characters run away at any cost, regardless of the consequences, and we love them for this bravery.

The authors refer to the collective mind as traps, and the metaphor there is quite detailed and readable. And there is also a programmatic monologue, albeit somewhat clumsy. It talks about temptations and objects of influence. And about children who are "easy to break and remake" to make them the same and impose on them the idea of a better world.

"Very strange cases" in this case is the lawyer of these children. To overcome fear, not to let the piper drag you away, to decide for yourself how and what to do, and to do things where "wise" adults give up — in this the Duffer brothers see hope and salvation not only for Hawkins, but for our whole world. Yes, these are strange things, but I want to believe in them. And let the characters of the series win, but we will also try to match, for nothing, we have been looking at these amazing children for so many years.