Stranger Things image courtesy Netflix.

If you’re so excited about watching the finale of the Stranger Things saga that sitting on your couch and streaming it on Netflix just isn’t special enough, now you can drive to the theater, pay for a ticket and spend your New Year’s Eve (or Day) viewing the final episode on the silver screen.

Netflix announced Thursday that fans of the Upside Down can choose one of 350 theaters nationwide and screen the two-hour finale beginning at 5pm Pacific Time (8pm Eastern), which is the exact time the episode will become available on the streamer. The screenings are only happening through January 1st.

The show’s creators, Matt and Ross Duffer said in a press release that, “we’re beyond excited that fans will have the chance to experience the final episode of Stranger Things in theaters — it’s something we’ve dreamed about for years, and we’re so grateful to Ted, Bela, and everyone at Netflix for making it happen. Getting to see it on the big screen, with incredible sound, picture, and a room full of fans, feels like the perfect — dare we say bitchin’ — way to celebrate the end of this adventure.” 

If it seems like it’s been forever since Stranger Things delivered a new episode, that’s because it has been almost a lifetime in TV years – the last new episode aired on July 1st, 2022. The Season 4 finale also had a brief theatrical run, screening in various cities across North America on Stranger Things Day (November 6th), months after the installment’s streaming premiere.

The last time we saw the Hawkins, Indiana gang: 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), and Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair)-they were battling the Big Bad Vecna. Vecna killed Max (she got better thanks to Eleven) and then unleashed the Upside Down on Hawkins, with ash raining down from the sky as their world seems to be on fire.

Stranger Things 5 kicks off in the fall of 1987, with Hawkins scarred by the opening of the Rifts and our heroes united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. Stranger Things also stars Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Brett Gelman (Murray), Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), Amybeth McNulty (Vickie), Nell Fisher (Holly Wheeler), Jake Connelly (Derek Turnbow), Alex Breaux (Lt. Akers), and Linda Hamilton (Dr. Kay).

Season 5 of Stranger Things will be released on Netflix in three installments: Volume 1 (Episodes 501-504) on November 26th , Volume 2 (Episodes 505-507) on December 25th, and the finale on December 31st, in both theaters and on Netflix’s platform.