'House of Cards' Season 6 Plot News: Writers Rushing Rewrites Minus Kevin Spacey's Frank Underwood
The writers of "House of Cards" season 6 are rushing to rewrite the scripts following the unplanned axing of its star Kevin Spacey. His character, Frank Underwood, will no longer be in the new season as Netflix severed ties with Spacey amid several sexual harassment allegations.
Production was in its second week of production when Spacey's scandal broke. According to CNN, "House of Cards" writers prepared the scripts season 6 for eight months but these will now be thrown out the window.
Netflix immediately ordered a production shutdown when Spacey's victim outed himself. The streaming site eventually fired the actor from the show as more victims came forward. Netflix also canceled his upcoming project about a movie on Gore Vidal, as a spokesperson confirmed.
Showrunners Melissa James Gibson and Frank Pugliese have not made any statements on their plans for "House of Cards" season 6 in light of recent events. Will Underwood land in jail? Will the writers kill off the character?
The character's counterpart in the original British series was shot to death when the series ended after three seasons. The Netflix version, however, veered off completely from the original version. Season 5 ended with Underwood resigning from his post as U.S. president amid murder accusations. His wife, Claire (Robin Wright), took over but she made no promise of a presidential pardon for her husband.
The show's fate, however, hangs on the brink even if the writers will be able to come up with a new storyline. Following the production's suspension, Netflix will still advise the cast and crew of its final decision by Thanksgiving.
Some 2,000 people work on "House of Cards" season 6. Many are still under contract with Netflix until the original production target end date of May 2018.
"House of Cards" premiered on Netflix in 2013. All five seasons of the show remain streaming on the platform.
