Empire fans will have to be content with re-watching old episodes because it’s unlikely Fox will give the series a proper sendoff with a new finale.
Due to the pandemic, the drama series had to cut its sixth and final season short.
Co-creators Lee Daniels and Danny Strong had hopes of producing a few more episodes to wrap up the storyline, but Fox Entertainment President Michael Thorn told The Wrap it isn’t happening.
“I think the producers did the best they could, given the situation we were in, to give the audience closure. But just given that everyone in the cast and behind the scenes are all doing different things, it just feels extremely unlikely that we’ll be able to, at least for a while, give that kind of finale,” Thorn told the outlet Tuesday at the Television Critics Association summer press tour.
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After the hip-hop drama series debuted in 2015, it quickly became one of the network’s highest rated shows and remained wildly popular throughout its first few seasons.
Thorn believes part of the show’s legacy should be preserved by keeping its story as is.
“Empire will forever define Fox. And it’s one of our signature shows,” Thorn said. “Cookie and Lucious are among our most signature characters and will be among the faces of Fox throughout our history. But I think for the show, we are celebrating the iconic series by probably not looking to exploit it any further and just celebrate it for what it was, which was one of the great dramas of all time, in our opinion.”
As previously reported, Fox announced late last year that it would not be moving forward with an Empire spinoff starring Taraji P. Henson as Cookie Lyon. Henson received an Emmy nomination in 2016 for her role as the tough-talking female protagonist of the show.