“House of Cards” final season shooting to resume without Spacey

Netflix has reached an agreement to resume production on “House of Cards” season 6 — the show's final season — in early 2018, according to chief content officer Ted Sarandos. Production of “House of Cards” season 6 was suspended in October, following sexual assault allegations against star Kevin Spacey.

Season 6 of the political thriller will be eight episodes, starring Robin Wright, Sarandos said. The final season will not include Spacey, as previously announced. Each of the previous seasons has comprised 13 episodes.

“We're really excited about bringing some closure to the show for fans,” said Sarandos, speaking Monday at UBS's Global Media and Communications Conference in New York.

“House of Cards,” the first major original show to pop for Netflix, is produced by Media Rights Capital (MRC) and is shot in Baltimore. Sarandos said he was gratified to have reached the deal for the team of 370 people who directly work on the show and for “the 2,000 people in Baltimore” who have jobs working on “HOC.”

Variety reported last month that “House of Cards” producers were contemplating killing off Spacey's character — the devious political animal Frank Underwood — to focus on Wright's Claire Underwood as a way to salvage season 6.

Last week MRC producers had informed “House of Cards” cast and crew that the hiatus on season 6 would be extended through December 8 and that the crew will continue to be paid during the break. Now the pause on the production is extending into the new year.

Source: Variety