Production on ‘House of Cards’ will resume early next year without Kevin Spacey

Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos gave confirmation Monday, December 4, while speaking at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference in New York. Season 6 will encompass eight episodes, and production will resume in early 2018 with Robin Wright set to assume the spotlight as Claire Underwood, the wife of Spacey’s character, Frank Underwood.

Production has been on indefinite hiatus since sexual assault allegations against Spacey came to light in late October. The House of Cards team recently received a letter from Pauline Micelli, senior vice president of television business and legal affairs for Media Rights Capital, the studio that produces House of Cards. She said the crew would be paid for two more weeks, from November 27 through December 8. The end of the pay extension means that the hiatus will also conclude at that point.

A week after the allegations against Spacey surfaced, Netflix proclaimed it would no longer be involved with House of Cards as long as the show’s lead actor was attached. As a result, writers have been reworking a season 6 plan that included Spacey’s character and was eight months in the making, which Micelli says is entirely possible. “The one thing we have learned throughout this process is that this production is bigger than just one person, and we could not be more proud to be associated with one of the most loyal and talented production cast and crews in this business,” Micelli wrote in her letter.

House of Cards was renewed for its sixth season in early October, and was almost instantly mired in complications. The House of Cards set in Maryland had to be placed on lockdown a week after its renewal was first reported, as police searched the area for an active shooter.

Production on the new season was reportedly scheduled to end in May, and there is no word on if that is still the planned end date. If the hiatus results in this date being pushed back, it could force the new season to be released later than any of the five previous seasons.

If the House of Cards writers are having trouble figuring out Frank Underwood’s fate now that Spacey is no longer attached to the show, perhaps the British version of the show on which it is based can offer some tips. And there may be even more content in the future for fans of the series if talk about spinoff series is to be believed.

Update: Netflix has confirmed that House of Cards will be returning for a sixth season.