In Los Angeles over the weekend, Netflix Tudum, a global pop culture event that showcases what’s on the slate for the streaming behemoth, was held to mass fanfare – and a Gaga performance – in celebration of all the most anticipated titles for the remainder of 2025.
Here at The AU Review we’ve gathered all the important dates, so you can set your calendars as to when all things Stranger Things, Wednesday and Knives Out, among others, drop to stream.
Stranger Things fifth and final season in 3…2…1…
There’s always been the debate between dropping all episodes at once or rolling out in a weekly format. Well, Netflix have gone for a third option and will release the fifth and final season of Stranger Things across 3 volumes: Volume 1 on November 26th at 5pm PT (November 27th at 10am for Australians), Volume 2 on December 25th (Happy Christmas) at 5pm PT (December 26th at 10am for Australians), and Volume 3 on New Year’s Eve at 5pm PT (New Year’s Day 2026 at 10am for Australians).
And just what will this final season entail? Netflix have released the following synopsis for the long-awaited closer that’s been almost 10 years in the making(!).
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,” The official description reads. “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.
Wake Up Dead Man! We have a Knives Out 3 date.
We still don’t know exactly what Rian Johnson is cooking up for his second Knives Out sequel, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, in terms of its narrative – though it has been described as the “most dangerous case yet” – but we do know it’ll arrive on Netflix on December 12th this year (plenty of time to rewatch the original and its sequel, Glass Onion) and that it’ll boast another stellar ensemble.
Alongside the returning Daniel Craig, Wake Up Dead Man stars Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Cailee Spaeny, Jeremy Renner, Mila Kunis, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Daryl McCormack and Thomas Haden Church.
Wednesday Season 2 will make you go Gaga!
We’ve waited a woeful three years for the return of Jenna Ortega as everyone’s favourite morbid teenager, Wednesday. And Netflix seemingly knew to make up for such a wait between seasons, they released the first six minutes of the anticipated second season, the announcement that it will drop over two parts (Part 1 on August 6th and Part 2 on September 3rd), and both the reveal of who Lady Gaga will be portraying – Rosaline Rotwood, a “legendary Nevermore teacher who crosses paths with Wednesday” – and a killer performance from the popstar herself, who turned out “ZombieBoy” and “Abracadabra” from her latest album, Mayhem, as well as “Bloody Mary”, which went viral on social media following the infamous dance sequence from Season One; which, ironically, was not set to Gaga’s song originally.
Get Happy-er with Happy Gilmore 2
One of Adam Sandler‘s most beloved characters, Happy Gilmore, is returning to the golf course for another round of irreverent comedy with Happy Gilmore 2, which is set to tee off from July 25th.
Alongside Sandler, Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen and Ben Stiller return from the original, with Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (aka Bad Bunny) joining in the comedic festivities.
It’s the final Squid Games!
Every game must come to an end, and Netflix have revealed that Squid Game’s third season will bow out on June 27th.
Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk spoke about the finale, noting that “The new season will focus on what Gi-hun can and will do after all his efforts fail. He is in utter despair after losing everything and watching all his efforts go in vain. The story then takes an interesting turn, questioning whether Gi-hun can overcome his shame and rise again to prove that values of humanity — like conscience and kindness — can exist in the arena.”
A Ripping reunion for Matt and Ben
An early 2026 offering was teased with The Rip – set for a January 16th release next year – which serves as an on-screen reunion for Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.
The Good Will Hunting scribes headline the film, which is about a team of Miami cops who discover millions of dollars stored in a derelict stash house. As outside forces learn about the size of the seizure, everything is called into question – including who they can rely on.
Director Joe Carnahan (Smokin’ Aces, Shadow Force) spoke about how the film came out of a deeply personal experience that his friend went through, both as a father and as head of tactical narcotics for the Miami Dade police department. “It’s inspired in part by his life and by my enduring love for those classic ‘70’s cop thrillers that really valued the character and interpersonal relationships and became touchstones of that era — films like Serpico and Prince of The City and more recently, Michael Mann’s Heat.”
Joining Damn and Affleck in The Rip will be Steven Yeun, Kyle Chandler, Teyana Taylor, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Sasha Calle, and Néstor Carbonell.
Frankenstein comes-a-streaming
Only monsters play god, and only Guillermo del Toro could cast Jacob Elordi as Frankenstein’s monster.
The Academy Award-winning director of Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water adapts Mary Shelley’s iconic novel for a suitably gothic take on Frankenstein, which stars Oscar Isaac as a brilliant but egotistical scientist, who brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.
Also starring Mia Goth and Christoph Waltz, Frankenstein will be unleashed this November.
