FX has renewed The Strain for a fourth and final season. The Hollywood Reporter had the story.
The Strain is a vampire-themed horror series based on a trilogy of novels by acclaimed film director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy) and author and screenwriter Chuck Hogan. Hogan and del Toro share executive producer credits with Carlton Cuse (Lost, Bates Motel).
According to Cuse, the original plan was to have the first season cover the first book, with the next two books split into multiple seasons. Then in August, Cuse told the press that they were considering a maximum of five seasons, saying “We’re in the process of trying to figure out creatively how many more episodes we have”.
Cuse himself announced that the fourth season would conclude the series, saying: “It is a true joy to work at FX, where creative intentions always come first. Our original plan was for the series to last three years. Once we began telling that story it expanded to be more. After finishing the writing on season 3, Guillermo, Chuck and I looked at our remaining story and felt the best version could be told in one more season. We have a fantastic plan for an exciting and climatic season 4. We are deeply grateful to FX for supporting our vision and for allowing us to end the show on our own timetable”.
FX’s president of original programming, Nick Grad, praised Cuse, Hogan and del Toro, before adding: “Though we’re sad to see it go, we fully support the way in which they are crafting the fourth season’s dramatic conclusion”.
Season 3 of The Strain premiered on FX on August 28th. New episodes air every Sunday at 10 p.m. Season 4 is set to premiere sometime in the summer of 2017.