Apple is officially bringing Severance in-house.

In a deal reportedly worth $70 million, Apple acquired the IP and all rights to the Emmy Award-winning drama. Going forward, Apple Studios will produce the series internally, while production company Fifth Season will remain an executive producer.

Keep reading to find out more…

The move comes after Season 2′s complicated and expensive production, which reportedly cast as much as $20 million per episode and faced multiple setbacks, including the Hollywood strikes, COVID and script rewrites and reshoots, per Deadline.

Season 3 is officially renewed, and sources tell Deadline that a fourth season is essentially locked into Apple’s strategy.

Creators Ben Stiller and Dan Erickson have planned for a 3 to 4 season arc, with four seasons now considered the target. A fifth season is not currently planned, although expansion of the universe, including spinoffs or prequels, is reportedly being discussed, per Deadline.

Apple hopes to start filming Season 3 this summer in New York, though the start date may shift as scripts are finished. The plan is to head into production with finished scripts to avoid the costly Season 2 rewrites. Six scripts are reportedly done already.

Ben Stiller is not planning to direct any episodes in season three of Apple TV’s Severance. Find out why.