Apple Studios has acquired Severance from production company Fifth Season in a deal worth just under $70million, and it’s expected that the sci-fi thriller will run for at least four seasons.
The buyout brings the series in-house, giving Apple bosses greater control over long-term planning – including potential spin-offs – and approached Fifth Season about buying the show from them.
Fifth Season is one of the largest external studio suppliers to Apple TV, alongside Warner Bros. and Sony, and also produces series including Chief Of War, See, Truth Be Told, Roar, Lady In The Lake, and the upcoming drama The Savant.
Severance reportedly cost as much as $20million an episode for its 10-episode second season, and it’s complicated to produce due to extensive visual effects, large sets and complex storytelling.
Per Deadline, Fifth Season asked Apple TV for advances and help with payments, also considering moving from New York to Canada for tax rebate reasons. Apple felt that they’d be able to bear the costs better, including keeping the show in New York.
Apple also has a deal with Red Hour Productions, operated by executive producer Ben Stiller. His team also includes Severance executive producers John Lesher and Jackie Cohn.
To date, Severance has only officially been renewed for season three, the news coming out last March. It’s thought that Apple hopes to begin shooting the new season in the summer.
A potential fourth season is firmly being factored into Apple’s plans, while a fifth season is unlikely, but the decision will be down to Stiller and creator Dan Erickson – they’ve spoken in the past about three or four seasons being the ideal length. It’s thought, instead, that prequels, spin-offs or foreign versions could be on the cards.
Season two of Severance premiered in January 2025, with one new episode a week, and it was acclaimed by critics and viewers, becoming Apple TV’s most-watched series.
It received a five-star review from NME, being described as the “smartest thing on TV”. “Severance is a show best watched on high alert,” the review reads. “For example, graffiti scrawled in the background reads “Who is alive?” By the time The Stone Roses’ ‘Love Spreads’ hits the soundtrack, with Ian Brown wailing “Let me put you in the picture / Let me show you what I mean”, you’ll be begging for the Severance team to do the same. Don’t stress it, though. Enjoy the ride and let this unique show tease and titillate your brain until you finally submit.”
NME also named it one of the best TV shows of 2025. “Season two did exactly what a good follow-up series should do, with creator Dan Erickson deepening the mysteries and raising the stakes of this surreal love story,” wrote James Mottram. “New characters added to the weird vibes, from the child-like Miss Huang (Sarah Bock) to Gwendoline Christie’s goat-tending Lumon employee Lorne – spawning more theories than a Lost fan convention. With another edge-of-your-seat season finale leaving us dangling, this oddball gem played a blinder.”