Why won't there be a Succession season 5?

While some fans are holding out hope that a potential season 5 of the award-winning drama - or a spin-off - will be announced, unfortunately it doesn’t look like any further instalments are on the cards.

So, once you’ve gone through all the five stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance – and are ready to bid farewell to the series for good, read on for everything you need to know about why there won’t be a fifth season of Succession.

Why won’t there be a Succession season 5?

Creator Jesse Armstrong confirmed his decision to end the show with its fourth season back in February 2023, revealing that he believed a natural and poignant conclusion was arriving for Kendall, Roman, Shiv and Logan – and that he didn’t want to stretch out the series for the sake of more episodes.

During an interview with The New Yorker, he explained: "You know, there’s a promise in the title of Succession. I’ve never thought this could go on forever. The end has always been kind of present in my mind.

"From season 2, I’ve been trying to think: Is it the next one, or the one after that, or is it the one after that?"

Armstrong said he sat down with the other writers at the start of the creative process for season 4 and suggested bringing the series to a close.

"And we played out various scenarios: We could do a couple of short seasons, or two more seasons. Or we could go on for ages and turn the show into something rather different, and be a more rangy, freewheeling kind of fun show, where there would be good weeks and bad weeks," he said.

"Or we could do something a bit more muscular and complete, and go out sort of strong. And that was definitely always my preference."

Why won’t there be a Succession spin-off?

When Armstrong announced that Succession would be ending with season 4 back in February, he gave fans a glimmer of hope by hinting at a potential spin-off.

"Maybe there’s another part of this world we could come back to, if there was an appetite?" he teased to The New Yorker.

However, ahead of the season 3 finale, HBO's head of drama Francesca Orsi shut down speculation, saying there is "no intention of spinning any one character off".

Orsi told Deadline: "I’ll never say never but my instinct, and based on a number of conversations about the evolution of Succession and these characters, at this stage, there is no intention of spinning any one character off.

"Jesse, should he do a series again, I think it will be entirely original. Whether it’s based on IP or not, I’m not sure, but it will be a new show, a new idea entirely.”

She continued: "I’m not sure what he’s going to be doing next, and I’m looking forward to sitting with him after the writers strike and seeing what he’d like to do. He’s an original thinker, and I have no doubt that he’s going to impress us and move us once again with something new at some point."

What would Succession season 5 have looked like?

It's not clear what a fifth season would have looked like, but it would likely have featured ruthless patriarch Logan Roy, who, of course, met his end in season 4.

Roman Roy star Kieran Culkin recently teased that, before season 4 was confirmed to be the show's final outing, Armstrong had proposed a number of different ideas for a potential fifth season.

Culkin said: "Jesse described to me the whole season before we shot. I asked him one question and when he answered it, I said, 'Well, that sort of sounds like the end of the show.' He goes, 'Yeah, it does.' But then he just threw up three different ideas for a season 5 that he claimed were off the top of his head.

"I was like, 'I’m just speaking my speak my mind here, but those all sound like really awesome.'"

Read More

• Brian Cox claims that he was written out of Succession "too early"
• Succession season 4 featured surprise cameo from Brian Cox's wife
• Succession fans predict Kendall Roy will be the ultimate winner
• Succession star Sarah Snook says season 4 ending is "somewhat ambiguous"
• Succession's Matthew Macfadyen teases show ending: "It works"

Succession airs on Sky Atlantic and NOW with all seasons available to watch on Sky and stream on NOW – sign up for Sky TV here.

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