By Danielle Broadway
Netflix is inviting fans back into the supernatural world of “Stranger Things” with limited theatrical screenings of its upcoming animated series, “Stranger Things: Tales From ’85,” the streaming platform announced in a press release on Tuesday.
Netflix indicated that some AMC theaters will host special screenings of the first two episodes starting on April 18, ahead of the series’ global release on April 23.
The screenings will take place in 34 cinemas across the United States, as well as at the Paris Theater in New York and the Netflix House in Philadelphia. The animated series brings together “Stranger Things” creators Matt and Ross Duffer as executive producers, alongside showrunner Eric Robles, best known for creating the Nickelodeon animated series, “Fanboy & Chum Chum.”
The series is set in winter 1985. Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max have resumed a somewhat normal life, filled with Dungeons and Dragons games, snowball fights, and peaceful days in Hawkins, Indiana. But peace is short-lived as a terrifying threat awakens, forcing the group to come together once again to solve a mystery and save their town.
“Tales From ’85” marks the latest expansion of the “Stranger Things” universe, which has continued to grow since the Duffer Brothers launched their production company, Upside Down Pictures, in 2022 as part of a global deal with Netflix. This deal also includes a live-action “Stranger Things” spinoff project.
Beyond television, the franchise has expanded to a Tony Award-winning Broadway play, video games, cosplay, live immersive experiences, and a wide range of merchandise. “Stranger Things,” which debuted in 2016, follows a group of teenage friends in rural Indiana during the 1980s as they face monsters from an alternate dimension known as the Upside Down. The series quickly became one of Netflix’s biggest hits.
