'Stranger Things' season 3: 15 of the best red-carpet pictures from the premiere

Stars of the Netflix show, including Millie Bobby Brown, turned out in force for the event in Santa Monica

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Fans of the smash-hit Netflix series Stranger Things were already excited by the prospect of the the forthcoming third season, which hits screens on July 4.

But now the sight of the show's cast taking to the red carpet for the premiere will have sent their excitement into overdrive.

The likes of Millie Bobby Brown, who plays the character Eleven, Gaten Matarazzo, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLoughlin, Noah Schnapp, Natalia Dyer, David Harbour and Winona Ryder came together for the big event on Friday in Santa Monica, California, along with a host of other actors from the show and celebrities.

The new season has taken on the look of a big-budget action thriller rather than nostalgic sci-fi mystery, judging by the trailers released in the build-up to the release.

Nostalgia has been a central theme of the show, which is set firmly in the 1980s, although the main characters who have been together since the first series are moving up through their teen years.

Earlier this year, Netflix released the title cards of each of the eight episodes coming up. They are: Suzie, Do You Copy?, The Mall Rats, The Case of the Missing Lifeguard, The Sauna Test, The Source, The Birthday, The Bite, and The Battle of Starcourt.

According to Nielsen, around 15.8 million viewers tuned in to watch the first episode of the show's second season within the first three days of its October 27 launch. Netflix does not release information about viewership.