Deadline reports that Apple now owns “the IP and all rights” to Severance, and that future plans might include more than just four seasons. Here are the details.
Severance now belongs to Apple Studios
According to the report, Apple paid “just under $70 million” to acquire the IP and all the rights to Severance, effectively bringing the series in-house under Apple Studios.
Previously, the show was produced by Fifth Season, with Apple acting as the distributor. Now, Apple Studios will produce the series in-house, with Fifth Season staying on as an executive producer alongside show creator Dan Erickson.
One of the reasons behind the deal was the financial strain on Fifth Season, since production costs ballooned in Season 2, and the studio faced delays in receiving tax credit payments.
Here’s Deadline:
Severance films in New York where it gets tax credits, though there have been payment delays. While costs were going up and Season 2 was taking longer, borrowing became more expensive, with rates climbing from 1% to 5.5%-6%, making it harder to carry the cost for up to 36 months — the gap between Seasons 1 and 2 — especially when tax rebates are not coming in quickly enough.
The report notes that Fifth Season, “asked Apple TV for advances and help with payments and mulled moving the show from New York to Canada for bigger and quicker tax rebates,” and that Apple TV’s leadership “felt that, from a financial standpoint, if the streamer owned the show, they could bear the burden better.”
Expanding the Severance universe
According to Deadline, although Severance is currently planned for a 4-season run, Ben Stiller and Dan Erickson “are open to the idea of doing more with the Severance universe; possibilities include a prequel, spinoffs and foreign versions.”
... continue reading