Production on ‘House of Cards’ has been suspended for a further two weeks.
Work was recently stopped on the political drama after lead actor Kevin Spacey – who plays scheming former president Francis Underwood – was hit by multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, with streaming service Netflix subsequently announcing they would no longer work with the disgraced star, and now producers have told cast and crew they won’t be returning to work on the sixth and final season until December 8.
A letter sent to those working on the show by Media Rights Capital and distributed to press stated: "As we move into the holidays, we want to express our appreciation for all of the meaningful messages of support we have received from you and want to update all of our loyal cast and crew on our progress and where things currently stand.
"We continue to work with Netflix with the hope of resuming production soon. As we continue these discussions, we have determined together that the crew will be paid for an additional two week hiatus – beginning on November 27th and continuing through December 8th.
"In addition to the writers, there will be a small contingency of office/accounting staff who will remain in the production office on a continuous basis. Our hope is that the entire crew will be able to reconvene when production resumes, but we want you to know that we will certainly understand if crew members need to find other work in the interim, which will prevent them from re-joining us. We sincerely appreciate all you have done.
"Cast and other union members who are not actively working will be paid in accordance with applicable union guidelines through this period and we will be reaching out directly to your representatives to work through the details; we will get to everyone as quickly as possible and appreciate all of your patience here."
The letter, which was signed by Media Rights Capital senior vice president of television business and legal affairs, Pauline Micelli, concluded by praising the "loyal and talented" people working on the show, and took a swipe at Spacey by praising the fact the "production is bigger than just one person."
It concluded: "These last two months have tested and tried all of us in ways none of us could have foreseen. 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."
The staff will be given another update before December 8.
It was previously reported that Spacey’s character could be killed off, with the focus instead on his equally villainous wife Claire Underwood, played by Robin Wright.
House of Cards hiatus to continue
