Netflix held its annual “TUDUM” fan event on May 31, 2025. Held at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, this year’s event was one for the Netflix history books with host Sofia Carson and a long list of celebrities making guest appearances on the live show. However, the real stars of the evening were the release dates and updates for upcoming Netflix projects. So, here is some of the best news to come out at the “TUDUM” event.
“Stranger Things” Season Five
After nine long years, fans of the hit Netflix series “Stranger Things” will be saying goodbye to Hawkins and the Upside Down later this year after the official release date of the fifth and final season was announced. Split into three parts, “Volume One” will release on Nov. 26, “Volume Two” on Dec. 25 and “Volume Three” on Dec. 31. While there have been rumored spin offs for the series, “Stranger Things 5” is confirmed to be the conclusion of the main story line of the show.
“TUDUM” also premiered the teaser trailer for the new season. While the trailer comes across as thrilling and intense as the show has proven to be in the past, it offers little information on what this upcoming season has in store for the residents of Hawkins. And while the ending of Season Four gives me little faith that all my favorite characters will see happy endings in the last season, “Stranger Things 5” has quickly become my most anticipated show of the year.
“Wednesday” Season Two
The Addams Family has been entertaining audiences as a macabre household with an otherwise eccentric cast of characters since 1964. In the long-standing history of “The Addams Family,” parents Morticia and Gomez Addams were typically seen as the leads throughout the seven different films and five series adaptations. But Netflix changed that with the introduction of their series “Wednesday” in November 2022, which followed their daughter Wednesday Addams.
Starring Jenna Ortega as the titular character, the show follows her as she attends the supernatural school Nevermore Academy and attempts to solve the mystery of a killing spree at the school. The show received massive praise on the platform and was renewed for a second season in January 2023. “TUDUM” 2025 announced the release date of the second season, with “Part One” debuting on Aug. 6 and “Part Two” on Sept. 3. The Netflix event also confirmed Lady Gaga as one of the season's guest stars after her performance at the event. Though fans still have a few more months until they can stream the entire show, there is already plenty of excitement for the return to Nevermore Academy and seeing the role Gaga plays in this sinister series.
“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery”
Netflix has found a successful niche in the mystery genre with their whodunit series “Knives Out.” Though the film series stars Daniel Craig as world class detective Benoit Blanc, a majority of the ensemble cast changes in each film as a new mystery is uncovered. Following the 2019 film “Knives Out” and its 2022 sequel “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” the third film, “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” will be another murder mystery for viewers to unravel alongside Blanc.
Besides the intricate mysteries each film brings, a huge draw of the “Knives Out” franchise has been the star-studded casts of each film. “Wake Up Dead Man” is no different — the cast was revealed as they joined director Rian Johnson on stage at TUDUM. The film will star well-known actors such as Josh Brolin, Jeremy Renner, Mila Kunis and Cailee Spaeny. Though it has not yet been released just what role these characters will be playing, or whether that involves them making it out alive, their stories are sure to surprise audiences as so many “Knives Out” characters have done before.
“Happy Gilmore 2”
Who would have thought the Adam Sandler comedy “Happy Gilmore” would have a sequel 29 years after its 1996 release?. The original film follows Sandler as Happy Gilmore, an aspiring hockey player who turns out to be a lot better on the golf course than he is on the ice. Along with Sandler, Julie Bowen will be reprising her role as Virginia Venit, Happy’s love interest. Sunny Sandler, who recently starred in the 2023 Netflix film, “You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah,” will star as Happy and Virginia’s daughter Vienna.
Both a release date of July 25, 2025, and the film’s official trailer were shown at the live event. Though the trailer still leaves many questions on what this sequel will be about or whether it will live up to the legacy of the original film, “Happy Gilmore 2” will give sports comedy fans a chance to see a fictional golf legend as he returns to the course.
Guillermo Del Toro’s “Frankenstein”
A staple of the classic horror and science fiction genre, Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel “Frankenstein” has been the source material for many books, movies and even a Broadway musical. Netflix will release their own reimagining of the classic tale this November with Mexican filmmaker and author Guillermo del Toro taking the lead on the project.
Following the success of another one of his Netflix films, “Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio,” del Toro’s “Frankenstein” has been a long time coming. In an interview with Collider in 2010, del Toro touched on how Shelley’s book, a personal favorite of his, sparked his love for the horror genre.
“My favorite novel in the world is ‘Frankenstein,’” del Toro said in the interview. “As a child that was disenfranchised from everything, and that was in a world that was the wrong size, run by the wrong people, the wrong morale and the wrong rules, I felt completely outside of that, and I wanted some measure of control, and the measure of control I found was through fear.”
The event brought del Toro’s “Frankenstein” just a little bit closer to viewers’ screens with the official teaser trailer. Many accomplished actors have been confirmed as cast members, most notably Oscar Isaac in the starring role of Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as his monster. Though there are still a few more months to go, it is only a matter of time before Frankenstein’s monster comes to life on our screens.
Whether you are excited to see the conclusion to “Stranger Things” or you're as curious as I am to see how monstrous Jacob Elordi can really look, Netflix has made the announcements you need to keep the entertainment flowing the rest of the year. Still available to watch in full on Netflix, “TUDUM” is a great way to get yourself hyped for all the incoming movies and shows the rest of 2025 will bring.
