A promising update about Virgin River Season 6 emerged online amid the ongoing Hollywood actors' strikes.
While the hit Netflix drama is already renewed for Season 6 in May 2023, two more episodes will still be released as part of Season 5 Part 2 on November 30.
Although Virgin River Season 6's release date has yet to be confirmed, there were concerns that the show's continuation would not push through after Season 5's viewership suffered a 13% drop from Season 4's debut in July 2022.
Still, in September 2023, the streaming giant reassured that Season 6 still has the green light.
Virgin River Showrunner Hypes Up Season 6
In an interview with Glamour, Virgin River showrunner and executive producer Patrick Sean Smith shared an important update about Season 6 ahead of the two-part holiday episodes of Season 5 Part 2.
Smith confirmed to the outlet that the script for "half of season six" is now written. With the Hollywood writers' strike now over, Virgin River's creatives are expected to return to finish the second half:
"We have half of season six written, so now we just have to get back for the second half."
The showrunner also teased that the "twists and turns" in Season 5 Part 2 will lay the groundwork for the show's exciting return for Season 6:
“There are also plenty of twists and turns [in the holiday episodes] to get you excited about season six...”
On a related note, Virgin River's official Instagram account confirmed on October 11 that the writers' room has reopened for Season 6, indicating that work for the script's second half is now moving forward:
"Thrilled to have our writing team back in action, diving into Season 6!"
When Will Virgin River Season 6 Release?
Given that the writers' room for Virgin River Season 6 has reopened, then the second half of the script could be finished sooner rather than later.
It remains to be seen how long the writing process for Season 6's script will take, but looking back at the development of previous installments could shed some light on when the next season will premiere.
There was a three-month gap between the show receiving an initial series order from Netflix on September 27, 2018, and its filming start date on December 3, 2018. That said, writing a full season for a drama like Virgin River takes about three months.
Based on Patrick Sean Smith's comments, there's only "half of season six" left to write. This could hint that the writers will only need a month and a half to finish writing the entire script of Season 6.
If the SAG-AFTRA strike ends sometime next month and the rest of Season 6's script is also finished then, production for the upcoming season could start in December 2023 at the earliest.
Filming for Season 5 took place for four months from July 18 to November 21, 2022. If filming ends up starting in December 2023, then it could wrap around April 2024 at the earliest.
Season 5 was then released on Netflix 10 months after it ended, which was on September 7, 2023.
Assuming that the same timeline happens for Season 6 then it could premiere in early 2025.
The 2025 prediction is in line with Virgin River screenwriter Richard Keith's claim on Instagram that there won't be new episodes of the series until that year:
“Anybody else excited for the holiday episodes of ‘Virgin River’ to drop on November 30th!? All I want for Christmas is [for] my two… unions to get a fair deal from the AMPTP. If they don’t hurry up there won’t be any ’Virgin River' on Netflix until 2025…"
For now, fans can tune in when Virgin River Season 5 Part 2 premieres on November 30 on Netflix.
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