Virgin River Season 6: Encouraging update amidst actor strikes – What’s the release date?
Virgin River fans eagerly await the release of Season 6 while grappling with concerns stemming from a 13% viewership drop in Season 5 compared to Season 4. While Season 6’s release date remains unconfirmed, the doubts regarding the show’s future arose due to the decline in Season 5’s viewership after its debut in July 2022. However, Netflix reassured fans in September 2023 that Season 6 was indeed in the pipeline.
Virgin River Showrunner Updates Fans
Virgin River showrunner and executive producer, Patrick Sean Smith, recently provided an exciting update about Season 6. During an interview with Glamour, Smith confirmed that the script for “half of season six” is now complete. With the conclusion of the Hollywood writers’ strike, the creative team is set to return to finalize the second half of the script:
“We have half of season six written, so now we just have to get back for the second half.”
Smith also hinted that Season 5 Part 2 would introduce “twists and turns” that would pave the way for an exciting return in Season 6:
“There are also plenty of twists and turns [in the holiday episodes] to get you excited about season six…”
Moreover, the official Instagram account of Virgin River confirmed the reopening of the writers’ room for Season 6 on October 11, signifying progress in crafting the second half of the script:
“Thrilled to have our writing team back in action, diving into Season 6!”
Anticipated Release Timeline for Season 6
With the reopening of the writers’ room, the completion of the script’s second half may not be too far off. To estimate when Season 6 might premiere, we can examine the timeline of previous seasons’ development. A three-month interval existed between the initial series order from Netflix on September 27, 2018, and the start of filming on December 3, 2018.
Assuming that it takes approximately three months to write an entire season for a show like Virgin River, and with “half of season six” already written, the remaining script might be completed within a month and a half.
Should the SAG-AFTRA strike conclude next month and the script for Season 6’s second half is also finalized by then, production for the new season might commence in December 2023 at the earliest. Season 5’s filming transpired over four months, from July 18 to November 21, 2022. Hence, if filming commences in December 2023, it could potentially conclude by April 2024 at the earliest.
Following the precedent set by Season 5, which released on Netflix 10 months after concluding filming (on September 7, 2023), Season 6 could potentially premiere in early 2025.
This prediction aligns with screenwriter Richard Keith’s assertion on Instagram that there won’t be new Virgin River episodes until 2025 if the actors’ unions fail to secure a fair deal from the AMPTP:
“Anybody else excited for the holiday episodes of ‘Virgin River’ to drop on November 30th!? All I want for Christmas is [for] my two… unions to get a fair deal from the AMPTP. If they don’t hurry up there won’t be any ’Virgin River’ on Netflix until 2025…”
