Succession Season 3: The Emmy-Winning HBO Drama Was Forced To Delay Its Production Due To The Coronavirus Pandemic

With seven wins in the Emmy Awards, including the prize for outstanding drama series, HBO’s Succession was officially crowned the television industry’s highest prestige play. Now, for fans, comes the long wait for season three, which has been delayed indefinitely because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Luckily, an update was provided on Sunday: during a trip to the occasion’s virtual press area, best actor winner Jeremy Strong said season three of this series might potentially start production at the end of the season. “I believe we wish to start sometime this winter or autumn, as soon as matters are safe and that I understand that there are plans in the works,” Strong, who plays gloomy boy Kendall Roy about the HBO show, said. “I’m certainly prepared to return to it.”

Those words echo what Emmy-winning showrunner and creator Jesse Armstrong said last month when he informed Variety there were tentative plans to deliver the starry cast back together by Christmas. “Who knows if that will come around, but that’s the strategy right now,” Armstrong said in early August.

More recently, celebrity Brian Cox additionally suggested that the show could return to the set prior to the end of 2020. “It’s a kind of open book. But we’re ready to take action, we’re ready to go, we are all standing by here we have got excellent producers ut we’ll go with a maximum of safety.”

The next season of Succession might have been broadcasting were it not for the coronavirus pandemic. Production on the show was supposed to begin in April before the global health disaster forced the amusement industry to close down. The delay affects not just the loyal Succession hive online, but HBO’s awards industrial complex too. Because of the shift, even if the series is able to start filming once more by December, it might not qualify for next season’s Emmy Awards.

In 2020, the eligibility window for contenders closed on May 31. If that deadline stays somewhat secure for the following season, Succession season three would probably have to premiere before the end of May 2021 to have a chance to guard its illustrious name. That does not imply Succession season three must finish airing by then per an Emmys rule, “hanging episodes” scheduled for air after the deadline can be considered at the current-year eligibility provided the episodes are finished and posted to some member-accessible stage but it creates the calendar a little bit of an enemy.

But maybe that would not be so bad, with the immediate future uncertain and a potential return to pre-coronavirus normalcy perhaps improbable before the end of 2021. While taking the Outstanding Drama Series award on Sunday night, Armstrong struck a bittersweet tone. “That is such a very nice moment and it’s very sad to not be with the cast and some of the team to talk about everything with you tonight,” he said, referencing the isolation of the virtual Emmy Awards. By 2022, maybe the cast and crew can play “boar on the ground” with each other to celebrate.