Apple TV hit show “Severance” is expected to be a four-season series. While the third season should start filming this year, it’s still unclear when a release date should be expected. However, to avoid a delay as long as the one between seasons one and two, Deadline reports that Apple acquired all “Severance’s” rights, as it not only plans to finish the show in the coming years, but expand the universe with spin-offs and more.
There were many factors for the second season’s delay. For example, the show’s creator, Dan Erickson, said they would write a scene, but during the filming stage, they weren’t confident about what was going on. Besides that, there were issues for Fifth Season, the studio behind the show, regarding the higher costs of producing new episodes while shooting season two. This is why Deadline says Apple paid $70 million for “Severance’s” IP and all its rights.
Fifth Season had to request advances and considered moving the production to Canada to keep costs down, but Apple buying the rights, rather than simply licensing the show, prevents all that. The studio is responsible for several other Apple TV productions, like “See,” “Truth Be Told,” “Chief of War,” and “Roar,” but Apple continues to see tremendous potential in the show, which had a record-breaking season 2, making it an easy decision to buy it.
Severance-verse might continue to expand
With Apple taking more control of this popular show and having more than enough money to spend in case it’s required, the series could expand beyond the main show. Deadline says internal conversations suggest that Dan Erickson and Ben Stiller aren’t sold on a season five — they see it ending after season three or possibly four — but they’re open to a possible prequel, spin-offs, and even foreign versions — Brazilian “Severance” confirmed?
Jokes aside, “Severance” has a ton of lore that likely won’t be explored in its fullest during the run of the show. Besides that, offering other kinds of content between seasons could keep viewership interested.
“Severance,” in a way, is intrinsically correlated to Apple, just like “Ted Lasso.” During the lead-up to its second season premiere, Tim Cook participated in an ad to promote it. That said, this is all good news for “Severance” fans, as a lot more should be coming to Apple TV in the coming years, even with Ben Stiller also working on different projects for Apple, like the upcoming series “The Off Weeks.”
