Hot on the heels of the news that the in-production sixth season of House of Cards will be its last comes word that Netflix may not be done with the Cards-verse just yet. Variety reports that Netflix and producer Media Rights Capital are in “the very early stages” of developing multiple ideas for a House of Cards spinoff series, one of which revolves around Michael Kelly’s Doug Stamper. Eric Roth, who served as an executive producer on the first four seasons of House of Cards and penned films like Forrest Gump and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, is set to write that potential spinoff should it come to fruition.
THR adds that another idea being bandied about would focus on the journalists and bloggers who have tried to expose the Underwoods like Constance Zimmer’s Janine Skorsky. Yet another idea would take place in the world of Wall Street power brokers who wield political clout, like Gerald McRaney’s Raymond Tusk.
Nothing is official just yet but it does sounds like Netflix has been planning for the end of House of Cards for a bit. While the timing of yesterday’s announcement coincided with allegations of sexual harassment against series star Kevin Spacey, the end of House of Cards has been in the works since this summer.
The quality and buzz surrounding House of Cards has waned in recent years, but the show really is responsible for putting Netflix on the map as an original series powerhouse. That first season was spearheaded by David Fincher directing the first two episodes and serving as hands-on executive producer alongside former showrunner Beau Willimon, and indeed the notion that someone as esteemed as Fincher would wade into the streaming series waters was a big deal at the time.
As Netflix continues its plans to dominate the original content space with copious amounts of original series and films, it makes sense that they’d want to start spinning off some of their most popular properties—especially once they’ve concluded. Although I will admit the best idea I’ve heard thus far for a post-Spacey House of Cards is a version of the show that puts Robin Wright’s Claire Underwood in the White House as commander in chief. But as of right now, it sounds like Netflix is considering more tangential spinoff ideas.
via Collider