Naman Shrestha
From the minds of the Duffer Brothers (Matt and Ross Duffer), Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ is a science fiction horror series that revolves around the adventures and misadventures of a group of young friends, including Eleven, who possesses supernatural powers, in the town of Hawkins. The fifth season picks up a year after the events of the fourth season. With the danger looming over Hawkins after the opening of the Rifts, it is up to the group to come up with a plan to defeat and kill Vecna altogether.
Complications arise in their plan when the military gets involved, seeking to capture Eleven. Now, the group must work as one unit to tackle all the challenges they face, including the deadly threat of Vecna and saving Eleven from the military. Season 5 of the coming-of-age thriller show also unfolds in the fictional town of Hawkins. The dystopian setting of the town highlights the perils and threats that lurk in the streets of Hawkins.
Stranger Things Season 5 Filming Locations
The original plan for the shooting of season 5 of ‘Stranger Things’ was to begin in 2023, but due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, the showrunners decided to postpone production. After multiple delays, the principal photography for the fifth and final season of the sci-fi series reportedly got underway in January 2024. Filming primarily took place across Metro Atlanta, Georgia, with a few portions also seemingly shot in Columbus, Georgia.
After more than 11 months, shooting finally came to a close in December of the same year. Interestingly, the final scenes of the actors were shot on the last day of the filming process. During a conversation with Variety, Finn Wolfhard, who portrays Mike Wheeler, opened up about the last day on set. “When I walked out from doing the scene, it was just one of the greatest moments in my entire life. I didn’t process at the time because it was just so emotional. There was a lot of Champagne,” he said.
Metro Atlanta, Georgia
Almost the entirety of ‘Stranger Things’ season 5 was lensed in Metro Atlanta, consisting of five core counties — Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb, DeKalb, and Clayton. The production team set up camp in several parts of the city of Jackson, which was redressed to represent the fictional town of Hawkins. As for the scenes set in Hawkins National Laboratory, they utilized the premises of the former Georgia Mental Health Institute at 1256 Briarcliff Road Northeast in the city of Atlanta. The Cinespace Studios at 175 Lakewood Way Southwest in Atlanta served as one of the primary production locations as several of its soundstages were utilized to film various indoor scenes.
Spread across 35 acres, the film studio is home to 13 different purpose-built sound stages, production offices, and other post-production facilities, making it an ideal filming site for all kinds of projects. In addition, a church in the city of Newnan also features in the fifth season. The cast and crew members were also spotted shooting scenes in and around the Bellwood Quarry on Chappell Road Northwest in Atlanta. Various key portions were also recorded in the suburban city of East Point, Stone Mountain Park at 1000 Robert East Lee Boulevard in Stone Mountain and Gwinnett Place Mall, a vacant mall located in the Pleasant Hill Road corridor of Duluth.
At times, the shooting days reportedly stretched up to 14-16 hours as the cast and crew members worked on night shoots and multiple stunts. Moreover, Finn Wolfhard trained for about six months for one nighttime action sequence. During an interview with Variety, Nell Fisher opened up, “My scene was actually the last scene that was shot. It was on the very last day. It was running a bit behind schedule, and so I had about three hours of just hanging around with the rest of the cast who were in my scene. I finished slightly earlier, but I waited until the final wrap, which was — I mean, it was incredible. I cried. Everyone cried! There were a lot of tears. I’m surprised Atlanta didn’t flood, to be honest.”
Columbus, Georgia
Additional portions for ‘Stranger Things’ season 5 were also seemingly taped in the city of Rome and the region of Jackson Square. Furthermore, the city of Columbus, situated about 100 miles southwest of Atlanta, also hosted the production. From what we can tell, the filming unit redressed a few streets and neighborhoods of the Fountain City to shoot important scenes. You might be able to spot a few landmarks and places of interest in the backdrop, including the Columbus Museum, The Liberty Theatre, the Ledger-Enquirer Building, the First African Baptist Church, and more.
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