It seems the First Lady is ready to take office.
Bringing an end to a month-long spiel of rumors and conflicting reports, the sixth and final season of House of Cards will indeed resume production in 2018 – sans Kevin Spacey. The shamed Frank Underwood actor had been shooting scenes for the eight-part finale, though Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos has now confirmed what many had already assumed to be the only course of action: Spacey has been fired from House of Cards, and in his stead, Claire Underwood (Wonder Woman‘s Robin Wright) has been elected as the show’s lead character.
Poised to “bring closure to fans,” details of season six’s actual storyline are being kept under lock and key for now. Production will resume early next year though, which tells us that House of Cards will ultimately fold at the beginning of 2019 – assuming Netflix honors tradition and launches its flagship political drama in the spring.
It’s welcome news for the House of Cards fanbase, which feared that the Netflix original would be scrapped entirely in light of the allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against Kevin Spacey – for the record, the online streamer dropped plans to distribute a movie in which Spacey plays Gore Vidal. Moreover, Ridley Scott practically pulled off the impossible by drafting in Christopher Plummer to replace Spacey on period drama All the Money in the World, which is still somehow, almost inexplicably, penciled in for release on December 22nd.
The sixth and final season of Netflix’s House of Cards will be a little shorter than usual – eight episodes over the usual batch of 10 – when it arrives in the not-so-distant future. Production is expected to resume sometime next year, when Robin Wright’s Claire will take point as the show’s newfound lead. And after that? Spinoff series have been floated, though it’s unclear as yet if Netflix will extend its political flagship.
Meanwhile, last we reported, a representative said that Kevin Spacey is now seeking “evaluation and treatment.”