As of late, production and release delays for TV projects have become a normal occurrence in Hollywood, with the industry being impacted by COVID-19 just as much as any other. Those delays have been quite rough for Atlanta fans, who have waited over two years now to return to Donald Glover’s equally surrealist and hilarious series for Season 3. Thankfully FX chairman John Landgraf just delivered a promising update on plans for Atlanta to safely start shooting again in the near-ish future.
While speaking to CinemaBlend and other outlets during FX's TCA summer press day, Wednesday, John Landgraf announced Atlanta is set to begin production on Season 3 in early 2021. Not only that, but Donald Glover and his writing team have already mapped out both the third and fourth seasons of the Golden-Globe and Emmy-winning FX series, which will be shot back-to-back as planned prior to the pandemic. In the TV chairman’s words:
One of the things that’s been kind of an unexpected boon from COVID-19 is that writers have had a lot of time to write. Donald Glover and his intrepid team of partners have written everything for Seasons 3 and 4 and four. One shoots primarily in Europe, one primarily in Atlanta. The intent is to shoot them all at one time, essentially back to back.
Initially, Atlanta was going to be shot this year ahead of a Season 3 premiere planned for January 2021, with Season 4 set for Fall 2021. While fans will certainly have to wait longer than intended, we could still very well see what’s next for Earn, Paper Boi and Darius within the next year, which isn't half-bad considering the delays certain other projects are facing. The idea is for Atlanta to “shoot two seasons in one,” and the last we heard there will be ten episodes in Season 3 and eight in Season 4.
Prior delays for Atlanta lies in how the show's popularity helped turn its talented cast into bonafide stars that have since branched out into massive movie projects. Donald Glover juggles his music career as Childish Gambino with his recent high-profile roles as Lando in Solo: A Star Wars Story and Simba in The Lion King, as well as his wife and their two kids. Brian Tyree Henry has blown up since his rapper character Paper Boi found fame on Atlanta, finding roles in Into the Spider-Verse, the Child’s Play remake, Joker and in Marvel’s Eternals among a number of other roles. Dude’s on fire.
Then there’s Lakeith Stanfield, who was in some massive Oscar buzzy films including Sorry To Bother You, Uncut Gems and Knives Out following his breakout success on Atlanta. Zazie Beetz, who plays Earn’s sometimes-girlfriend Van, has had a particularly incredible arc on the show, and has appeared as Domino in Deadpool 2 and is also in Robert Kirkman's upcoming comic book adaptation Invincible along with J.K. Simmons, Sandra Oh and Steven Yuen.
Considering all the cast members' packed schedules, some of which have found prominence in between the Season 2 finale and present day, it's kind of amazing Atlanta has figured out a shooting plan for the next two seasons, especially with COVID thrown into the mix. Last we left Glover’s Earn, he's a more powerful manager than ever, but at grim costs, though we'll have to see if his world gets as grim as the real world has been.
We’ll keep you updated on what’s next for Atlanta here on CinemaBlend. The first two seasons are currently available to stream on Hulu.
