Netflix Fires Kevin Spacey, House of Cards to Kill Off Frank Undrewood?

Netflix has officially fired Kevin Spacey.House of Cardshas shut down production to figure out how to write him off the show, with plans to kill off Frank Underwood. The streaming service is currently evaluating the future of the hit political drama, as more accusers step forth. Netflix has also canceled Spacey’s planned Gore Vidal biopic. A Netflix representative released this message.

“Netflix will not be involved with any further production ofHouse of Cardsthat includes Kevin Spacey. We will continue to work with MRC during this hiatus time to evaluate our path forward as it relates to the show. We have also decided we will not be moving forward with the release of the filmGore, which was in postproduction, starring and produced by Kevin Spacey.”

Media Rights Capital, who producesHouse of Cardsalongside Kevin Spacey, issued this statement.

“While we continue the ongoing investigation into the serious allegations concerning Kevin Spacey’s behavior on the set of House of Cards, he has been suspended, effective immediately. MRC, in partnership with Netflix, will continue to evaluate a creative path forward for the program during the hiatus.”

Fans are still reeling from the allegations againstHouse of Cardsstar Kevin Spacey, which has lead to a whirlwind of activity over just the past few days. Since production was already under way on the sixth season, the streaming servicecanceled House of Cardswith Season 6 set to be its last. Production was shut down just a day later. Since little is know about how far along in the season production was at the time of the shut down, many wondered what the show would do when production resumes. Production is shut down for at least two weeks, for the writers to figure out a way to write Kevin Spacey’s lead character, Frank Underwood, off of the show.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news, revealing that almost all ofHouse of Cards Season 6had been written when actor Anthony Rapp came forward with shocking allegations that Kevin Spacey attempted to sexually assault the actor when he was just 14 years old, and Kevin Spacey was 26. Further allegations have come out since then. While most of the episodes had been written, only the first two episodes have been shot, with the table read for the third episode already on the schedule, before production was shut down. Netflix and the show’s producers Media Rights Capital both sent representatives to the Maryland set, to make sure the cast and crew all felt safe.

Sources claim that theHouse of Cards Season 6 production shut-downwill last at least two weeks, to give the show’s writers and producers time to figure out the ending of this series. While Netflix just announced that this will be the final season a few days ago, sources contend that Netflix and the producers had decided months ago that this season will be its last. One source claimed that, “They shut it down to figure out how to write him out,” with sources claiming that just shutting the show down completely is an option, albeit an unlikely one. Oddly enough, theHouse of Cardsbook by Michael Dobbs, which the series is based on, features Spacey’s character, in the book named Francis Urquhart, being killed, it’s highly likely the series will follow this thread from the book.

Other sources claimed that Robin Wright, who plays Francis Underwood’s embattled wife Claire, could now become the “centerpiece” of the series. Netflix also revealed this week that they are developing multipleHouse of Cards spin-off shows, which could be put into production after this final season airs. The streaming service would not divulge any further details abut the spin-offs, but their approach seems to mirror that of HBO, which is currently working on five separate spin-offs for their hit show, that would take place long before the events of the flagship series. Still, Netflix has to figure out what to do withHouse Of Cardsfirst, before considering any sort of spin-offs.

Earlier today, the scandal intensified even more, with eightHouse of Cards crew membersaccusing Kevin Spacey of sexual assault and harassment. The actor was also dropped by his talent agency, CAA, and his publicist, Staci Wolfe. The actor also taught a MasterClass in acting, which has been removed from the MasterClass website following the allegations. You can visitThe Hollywood Reporterfor more on theHouse of Cardsproduction shut-down.