“House of Cards” will fold after its sixth season on Netflix in 2018News that the coming season, which is currently in production, will be the last for the show broke Monday afternoon. The series is among the oldest original on Netflix, having premiered in 2013 following a two-season commitment from the streaming service to secure its rights.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, discussion about closing out “House of Cards” with Season 6 has been ongoing since the summer. The timing of the news, however, comes just after actor Anthony Rapp publicly accused “House of Cards” star Kevin Spacey of making “a sexual advance” on him in 1986, when Rapp was 14 years old.
In a joint statement, Netflix and producer Media Rights Capital say they “deeply troubled by last night’s news concerning Kevin Spacey. In response to last night’s revelations, executives from both of our companies arrived in Baltimore this afternoon to meet with our cast and crew to ensure that they continue to feel safe and supported. As previously scheduled, Kevin Spacey is not working on set at this time.”
“House of Cards” wasn’t the first original series to debut on Netflix; that honor belongs to “Lilyhammer,” a co-production with Norwegian broadcaster NRK that debuted in 2012. It was, however, the show that signaled Netflix was interested in becoming a serious player in the TV business, after the company outbid HBO, Showtime and AMC for the rights to the show.
Beau Willimon created the show, which is based on a 1990 BBC miniseries (in turn based on a novel by Michael Dobbs). Melissa James Gibson and Frank Pugliese took over as showrunners in Season 5. In addition to Spacey (who’s also an executive producer), “House of Cards” stars Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, Campbell Scott and Patricia Clarkson, among others.
As with all of its shows, Netflix doesn’t release viewing figures for “House of Cards.” The series joins these shows that will air their final seasons in 2017-18.