Stranger Things season 3 racks up a record-breaking 40 mn views in four days since premiere, announces Netflix

The newest season of Stranger Things has been watched by over 40 million subscribers on Netflix in less than a week of its premiere, the streaming giant claimed on 9 July (Tuesday). According to the streamer, 18 million viewers have completed watching the entire third season, which debuted on 4 July.

A still from Stranger Things season 3

It is only recently that Netflix has selectively started sharing its viewership data, after being tight-lipped about it for years.

In April, Netflix had revealed that its superhero drama The Umbrella Academy clocked 45 million views in its first month, while in January, the streamer had claimed Sandra Bullock-starrer post-apocalyptic drama Bird Box recorded the same viewership in its first week of release.

However, there is no method to independently verify the viewership figures.

Stranger Things, created by Matt and Ross Duffer, is Netflix's one of the most popular show. It is set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, in the 1980s. The small city finds itself at the centre of supernatural events which get complicated further with the arrival of a girl with psychokinetic abilities.

Featuring an ensemble cast of Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Noah Schnapp and Joe Keery, the first season of the show premiered in July 2016.

It returned a year later with the sophomore season but unlike the show's first run, the second season was considered a let down by both the fans and the critics.

Stranger Things season three has been appreciated by the critics for its fast paced storyline as well as its twists and turns, including the death of a major character in the end.