No one, outside of Netflix CCO Ted Sarandos and maybe the company janitor who’s also an undercover hacker knows how popular Stranger Things is, outside of “very.” The company is that guarded about its ratings. So, it’s always a little surprising when specific numbers are attached to any Netflix series, especially the streaming service’s (presumably) biggest hit. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Stranger Things cast is getting a massive pay bump in season three, with the young cast earning 12 times their previous salaries.
According to sources, the main actors are divided into different pay tiers. Winona Ryder (Joyce) and David Harbour (Jim Hopper) make up the “A tier” and are making up to $350,000 an episode. The “B tier” consists of the young stars — Finn Wolfhard (Mike), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas) and Noah Schnapp (Will) — who are each collecting $250,000 per episode. Meanwhile, the actors in the “C tier” — onscreen teenagers Natalia Dyer (Nancy), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan) and Joe Keery (Steve) — are each pocketing roughly $150,000 an episode. (Via)
In previous seasons, Ryder and Harbour were paid $100,000 and $80,000 an episode, respectively, while the kids earned somewhere in the low $20,000s.
For comparison’s sake: five stars on Game of Thrones — Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau — make $500,000 per episode. That’s more than Stranger Things‘ “A tier” cast, but Thrones has fewer episodes per season; season seven was seven episodes long, compared to nine for season two of Stranger Things. Also, if you’re wondering why breakout Millie Bobbie Brown isn’t listed in the “A” or “B” tier, that’s because “her camp has been tight-lipped throughout the dealmaking process.” Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at her contract negotiations.
Two million an episode it is.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)
