Fans seem to be getting very excited to watch the series finale of Stranger Things in theaters soon — but scalpers are clearly just as excited, because they are already selling tickets to the Season 5 ender with a whopping 275% markup.
Tickets went on sale on December 2, and already fans have noticed that passes have shown up on eBay, with one set of two tickets for the Cinemark Woodlands location in Texas going for $150. Cinemark venues sold $20 concessions vouchers to reserve tickets for entry, which means this is a 275% increase in ticket price on this listing.
Other fans, though, are reselling their tickets at a much more reasonable price, depending on where you’re located and how many tickets you’ll need. To that point, there’s another listing offering four tickets for $80, which is face value for the passes, at the 34th street AMC location in New York City. So don’t totally write off resale for this event if you missed out on tickets at your local theater.
It seems as though there will be more listings popping up in the next week as more theaters sell out, and we hope everyone who wants tickets is able to get them safely and affordably (ie, not for 275% more than the listed price).
As far as getting their hands on tickets goes, fans seem to be a bit angry with theater chains Cinemark and Regal, who claimed tickets would be available for purchase at 8am PT/11am ET. However, hours before, concession vouchers were made available — and it was those that were needed in order to reserve, not purchase, seats for this special event.
Because of the confusion in wording and general instructions, fans went on to vent their frustrations on reddit. “Cinemark and Regal completely lied about when finale tickets go on sale,” one user vented in a post on the Stranger Things subreddit.
“I had an alarm set and everything for 7:50am to get tickets for the finale but I just had a hunch not to go to sleep until I got the tickets,” they added. “But, basically Cinemark and Regal started selling finale tickets early last night and now nearly every showing is sold out and people are pissed.”
The decade-long sci-fi series finally comes to an end at the end of the year, with the Season 5 finale set to rubber stamp the much-loved characters’ fates. Netflix has taken the unusual step of releasing the final episode in theaters at 5pm PT on December 31, the exact same time it hits the streamer. The screenings will take place in over 500 theaters in the U.S. and Canada (check the list here) starting on December 31, 2025 at 5pm PT, timed to the finale’s global premiere on Netflix, and run through January 1, 2026. Netflix has also confirmed the run time of the Stranger Things Season 5 finale: 2 hours 5 minutes.
In October, Stranger Things co-creator Ross Duffer told fans they should only come and see the Stranger Things Season 5 finale in front of a cinema screen if they’re cool with crying in a crowded room.
“The finale. Theaters. New Year’s Eve,” Duffer wrote in an Instagram post alongside a photo of the drawing Lucas and Max used to ask each other on a date in Season 4. “This is something my brother and I have dreamed about for years. If you don’t mind crying in front of strangers, GO. And if you’re in LA… maybe we’ll see you there.”
Stranger Things Season 5 release dates:
- VOL 1 – November 26, 5pm PT
- VOL 2 – Christmas, 5pm PT
- THE FINALE – New Year’s Eve, 5pm PT
We’ve got plenty more on Stranger Things, including Ross Duffer’s call to arms for fans to turn off “garbage” TV settings before watching Season 5. And be sure to check out our Stranger Things: Season 5, Vol. 1 spoiler review to find out what we think of how the show is going.
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
