'Stranger Things 4' Broke Netflix's 28-Day U.S. Viewership Record in Just 17 Days

Fourth season of "Stranger Things" didn't need four weeks — or even its final two supersized episodes — to take down "Bridgerton."

‘Stranger Things 4′ Broke Netflix’s 28-Day U.S. Viewership Record in Just 17 Days

“Stranger Things 4” viewership has been so strong it’s spooky. The fourth season of Eleven & friends’ sci-fi exploits just broke the “Bridgerton” Season 2 record for most hours viewed within a show’s first 28 days and it only needed 17 days to do it. Through those two-and-a-half weeks, “Stranger Things” Season 4 amassed 781.04 million hours viewed, according to Netflix’s own internal tally. (“Stranger Things 4” added another 159.24 million hours this past week.)

Not only did “Stranger Things” Season 4 not require the full four weeks to shatter the previously-held English-language TV record (with a whopping 1.65 billion hours viewed with in own first four weeks, the Korean “Squid Game” is still by far Netflix’s biggest show ever), it also didn’t need its final two supersized episodes to do it. Those, which include the nearly two-and-a-half-hour season finale, drop July 1; the first seven episodes of the penultimate season landed on Netflix May 27.

Last week, “Stranger Things 4” ranked third all-time (with 621.80 million hours viewed) on Netflix’s Most Popular TV (English) list, behind Season 1 of Shonda Rhimes’ “Bridgerton” (625.49 million) and Season 2 of the sexy regency-period drama (656.26 million). It easily jumped that gap from June 6-June 12.

With plenty of time left to go — and the final two episodes yet to drop — “Stranger Things 4” will easily top “Money Heist: Part 5” (792.23 million hours viewed over the first 28 days), the number-two overall Netflix series of all time regardless of language. The fifth installment of the Spanish-language thriller series is the only show in any language currently standing between the fourth “Stranger Things” season and the first season of “Squid Game.” It is unlikely “Stranger Things 4” will catch “Squid Game.”

“Stranger Things 4” takes place six months since the Battle of Starcourt, “which brought terror and destruction to Hawkins,” per the fourth-season logline. Struggling with the aftermath, the friends are separated for the first time — and navigating the complexities of high school hasn’t made things any easier. In this most vulnerable time, a new and horrifying supernatural threat surfaces, presenting a gruesome mystery that, if solved, might finally put an end to the horrors of the Upside Down.

The series stars Winona Ryder (as Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair), Brett Gelman (Murray), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), and Matthew Modine (Dr. Brenner).

Addition cast includes Jamie Campbell Bower (as Peter Ballard), Joseph Quinn (Eddie Munson), Eduardo Franco (Argyle), Sherman Augustus (Lt. Colonel Sullivan), Mason Dye (Jason Carver), Nikola Djuricko (Yuri), Tom Wlaschiha (Dmitri), Myles Truitt (Patrick), Regina Ting Chen (Ms. Kelly), Grace Van Dien (Chrissy), Logan Riley Bruner (Fred Benson), Logan Allen (Jake), Elodie Grace Orkin (Angela), John Reynolds (Officer Callahan), Rob Morgan (Chief Powell), Joe Chrest (Ted Wheeler), Catherine Curtin (Claudia Henderson), Amybeth McNulty (Vickie), and Robert Englund (Victor Creel).

“Stranger Things” was created by The Duffer Brothers and is produced by Monkey Massacre Productions & 21 Laps Entertainment. The Duffer Brothers serve as executive producers on the series, alongside Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen of 21 Laps Entertainment, Iain Paterson, and Curtis Gwinn.

The first three seasons of “Stranger Things” were each nominated for an Outstanding Drama Emmy.