First look at the final Stranger Things season. And... the death of the press junket?
In around late June of 2016, I pressed play on a Netflix for some show called Stranger Things. There was no prior buzz on the show. Netflix didn’t really have much to say about it in the way they would hype up some of their other originals at the time. It was a quiet release.
It was hugely entertaining. Episode after episode I gobbled up, sitting on my couch. Every 50 minutes or so, I’d be watching that retro horror opening title sequence and get a tingle up my spine, before diving into the next one. It was one of those great, unexpected binge watches.
To this day, it remains the most fun experience I have had watching a Netflix show. I just had a blast.
I won’t profess to be a massive Stranger Things geek. Do I remember what happened on the show season-to-season? No. But, I do love the show and have such incredible warm feelings when I think about it.
Which brings us to today. With the final season dropping its first of three batch releases at the end of the year (season 5 debuts on Netflix Nov 26), today we got our first look at the final season by way of a teaser trailer.
The final season synopsis:
The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished - his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding. As the anniversary of Will's disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming - and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they've faced before. To end this nightmare, they'll need everyone - the full party - standing together, one last time.
I’m very excited and all-in. I don’t care that the teenage cast now all look like they are in their early 30s.
The end of the press junket
I haven’t done many press junkets. There’s been a few where I’m one of a handful of journos who casually has an extended conversation in a hotel with talent. And they have gone alright.
But in terms of a proper junket where journalist after journalist streams in and out of a room with talent where you have between 5-10 minutes to get it done… I have only done a few of them and they are always awful.
The chats are terrible, engagement is low, and all anyone ever gets is the same soundbites everyone else seems to have. The only way to get a unique moment is to go down the route of some sort of stunt. And most of those are really lame.
Stuart Heritage at The Guardian has a good piece today about social media disrupting the press junket. He talks about how the publicity for the new Superman film demanded a promotion of the film, but also had the challenge of introducing star David Corenswet. Back in the day, it would be press junkets and talk show appearances. Nowadays, it is random social media videos on a range of topic areas:
The ones going viral at the moment show Corenswet’s undying, encyclopedic love of the Star Wars prequels. One of them, the one that has gained the real traction, sees him passionately argue that Anakin Skywalker would have had a profoundly different fate had he been trained by Qui-Gon Jinn and not Obi-Wan Kenobi. His argument is calm and fluid and eloquent. Most importantly, it shows a deep understanding of the worst films of an overcooked franchise. In other words, it’s the perfect demonstration of why he should be Superman.
This isn’t an isolated incident, either. Much of the press for Jurassic World: Rebirth has revolved around the odd platonic showmance between Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey. In fact, watch any social clip of them gazing into each other’s eyes and giggling and it’s clear that they’re taking the lead from Wicked’s promotional cycle, which was fuelled by the social-driven narrative of Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo variously crying, clinging to each other or talking in weird little baby voices.
It was interesting watching the Fantastic Four Q&A I attended in Sydney on Tuesday as the cast, very well media trained (except for maybe when Ebon Moss-Bachrach mentioned a fan having long nipples) continue to return to a set of talking points that felt lifted from the aforementioned Wicked press tour. There were never-ending mentions about how on the film they all quickly became a family. Every second answer came back to their tightness as a found family unit.
I’d vomit if my actual family were talking up a tight, shared bond as much as these guys were.
If this really is the end of the press junket, I say good riddance. The new social media fuelled press tour gets us closer to prized authenticity. I don’t need to see Rachel Brosnahan seated in front of a movie poster one sheet telling me about her process for me to be sold on a movie.
Quote of the day
Joining the new Harry Potter TV series for HBO means walking into a political minefield. Every day for the next fifty years (approximately), the cast are going to be asked about trans rights and comments by JK Rowling.
New cast member Katherine Parkinson nailed her answer the first time out:
“I don’t want to add to that debate at all. I’m just delighted to be joining the magical world of Harry Potter.”
Just say nothing. For her ongoing mental health and quality of life, she’s made the smartest choice she can.
News Desk
UK comedy (*shrugs* I guess) Mrs Browns Boys will be back for season 5 on August 1. Time to take a break from writing all that fanfic. Read: Radio Times
Minnie Driver (Cinderella), Jeffrey Donovan (Fargo) and Natacha Karam (9-1-1: Lone Star) will star in new Fox biblical drama The Faithful. Read: Deadline
Giving the people what they actually want, Shout TV is launching a new FAST channel featuring films from John Woo, Chow Yun-Fat, Jet Li, and Jackie Chan. Read: The Wrap
Is Pachinko coming back for a third season on Apple TV+? There’s still no decision, but surely it deserves some form of closure. Read: TV Line
Wall Street research firm TD Cowen spoke to 2500 Netflix customers and found that they would be willing to spend $1 more on the streamer each month. Not revealed by the research firm is the cross-section of how many respondents own ivory backscratchers. Read: Variety
NBCUniversal will pay $3.6 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of failing to provide users an easy mechanism to cancel automatically renewing Peacock subscriptions. Read: THR
The Walking Dead: Dead City will return for season 3 with a new showrunner. Read: TV Line
The Shards, based on the Bret Easton-Ellis book, has been picked up as a series by FX with Ryan Murphy producing. Read: Deadline
FX also announced a new limited series Cry Wolf, it’ll star Olivia Colman and Brie Larson. Read: THR
That’s the newsletter for today.
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