The future of ‘American Horror Story’s existence is secure– FX renewed it for three more seasons in January– but the fate of the planned 10th season is not certain, thanks to the coronavirus. Series creator Ryan Murphy approaches each season differently. He kept the theme of 2016’s ‘Roanoke’ a secret until after the first episode aired. The next year, Murphy released a deluge of teaser images and video clips stating that most of them were fake-outs and only a few actually hinted at the real theme– ‘Cult’.
This year, Murphy decided to get an early jump on things. In February, he released a short video announcing the cast of the new season, including new addition Macauley Culkin. The black and white clip depicted waves lapping on the shore and was set to the song “Dead of Night” by Orville Peck. That was followed quickly by the release of a poster, showing a pair of hands hanging onto the edge of a cliff overlooking a large body of water.
But those were just teasers. The new season hadn’t begun filming yet and now that everything is shut down, it’s not even known if a new season will be ready to launch this fall. (The show usually kicks off in September, in time for Halloween.) It’s clear that a beach would factor into this season’s theme somehow, and now, according to Murphy that may have to change.
While promoting his new Netflix miniseries ‘Hollywood’, Murphy told The Wrap:
“Well, I don’t know, because a lot of what I was going to shoot was dependent on a very specific moment, it was a weather-dependent show. So now I don’t know. I don’t know what we’re going to do. I don’t know what I’m gonna do next with that show. I don’t know if I’ll accelerate another season or wait till next year to shoot this one.”
So there may not be an installment of ‘AHS’ in 2020, unless Murphy is able to pluck another idea from his ample imagination and get that made. But for the time being, most entertainment projects are shut down worldwide, but slowly, states are starting to reopen. It’s possible that Murphy could pull something together in time for a fall release.
In addition to Culkin, the proposed 10th season was set to star Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Kathy Bates, Leslie Grossman, Billie Lourd, Adina Porter, Lily Rabe, Angelica Ross, and Finn Wittrock.
Will you be disappointed if there isn’t an installment of ‘American Horror Story’ this year?
