Like the bulk of the entertainment world, Donald Glover’s critically acclaimed FX series Atlanta has been derailed over COVID-19 concerns.
According to Variety, FX Networks and FX Productions chairman John Landgraf told a virtual press conference on Wednesday (September 9) the Golden Globe award-winning series would resume production come early 2021 and be released later in the year.
The revelation was in stark contrast to the January 2021 third season premiere that was previously promised.
Glover and “his intrepid team” were said to have finished writing the third and fourth seasons over the last few months in spite of the global pandemic. At the end of season 2, main characters aEarn (Glover), Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry) and Darius (Lakeith Stanfield) are set to embark on a European tour and one of the seasons is said to reflect those overseas escapades.
Although production for the next two seasons is scheduled to resume soon, the set will reflect the ever-changing world as 2020 rages on. Doctors and epidemiologists will be on standby for testing and treatment while scenes will be shot in accordance with social distance guidelines. Landgraf reportedly stated the cast and crew’s safety were the “No. 1 priority” for the network.
Glover, who also performs as an artist under the name Childish Gambino, created the series in 2016. The following year, it won Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy and Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy for Glover (a first for an African American). Additionally, Glover won Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series.
The most recent season last aired in May 2018. During an interview a month later, Glover compared the upcoming third season to Kanye West’s classic third album Graduation stating, “I feel like this is our Graduation. This is probably our most accessible but also the realest–an honest version of it–and I feel like the most enjoyable, like the third album.”
Revisit a scene from the last Atlanta season below.