Stranger Things 4 breaks Netflix’s premiere weekend viewing record

Stranger Things season 4 has officially become Netflix’s largest ever premiere weekend debut for an English-language series.

According to the streaming service’s newly released Top 10 rankings, Stranger Things’ new season was viewed for 287 million hours during the week of 23-30 May, landing in the number one position.

Previously, this record was held by season two of the British television series Bridgerton, which drew 193 million hours over its premiere weekend.

Apart from the fourth season, Stranger Things’ first three seasons also made it to Netflix’s Top 10 list as fans rewatched the series in preparation for the new season.

Last week, the cast of Stranger Things warned younger fans that the forthcoming season is “disturbing”.

One of the show’s stars Joseph Quinn – who makes his debut as a new character Eddie Munson – said that he “thought they’d have to tone it down”.

“I didn’t think they would commit to how gruesome it was on the page,” he said. “But clearly they don’t care about young kids at all.”

Netflix also added a warning to the Stranger Things 4 premiere following the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

The warning card displayed at the start of the first episode of the new season, reads: “We filmed this season of Stranger Things a year ago.

“But given the recent tragic shooting at a school in Texas, viewers may find the opening scene of episode one distressing. We are deeply saddened by this unspeakable violence, and our hearts go out to every family mourning a loved one.”

This message will appear before the previousseason recap that auto-plays at the beginning of the new season’s episode one for US viewers only.