Severance Season 2 Faces Delay Amid Backstage Drama (Report)

A new report reveals major turmoil inside Lumon Industries.

According to Puck News, Season 2 of Apple TV+’s Emmy-nominated drama Severance is facing significant delays in the wake of a falling out between co-showrunners Dan Erickson and Mark Friedman.

All told, Erickson, a first-time series creator who wrote the pilot episode, and Friedman, a seasoned writer-producer whose myriad credits include AMC’s Dispatches From Elsewhere and Fox’s Wayward Pines, “ended up hating each other” before Season 1 was even in the can, which resulted in a “toxic” work environment, per the industry newsletter. Friedman reportedly intended to walk away ahead of Season 2, but fellow EP/director Ben Stiller, who worked with Friedman on 2014’s Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, convinced him to come back after failing to find someone to fill his shoes.

Alas, the problems that plagued production in Season 1 continue to wreak havoc in Season 2, which is now in production. Puck News cites script issues as well as a ballooning per-episode budget. With Apple already mulling two additional seasons, House of Cards creator Beau Willimon has been quietly brought to assist with Season 2 (and beyond).

UPDATE: Reps for Apple TV+ declined to comment, but a source close to the show disputes the Puck report, telling TVLine that Severance Season 2 “is on schedule, the budget is the same as Season 1, Dan, Beau and Mark are all working together… [Beau] was hired for Season 3 and since they don’t have a traditional writers room, it made sense he would get involved in the current season as well.”

UPDATE NO. 2: Stiller has also addressed the alleged behind-the-scenes drama, which you can read here.

For the uninitiated: Severance, which first debuted in February 2022, follows the inner workings of mysterious biotech company Lumon Industries, whose employees undergo a procedure that divides their memories between their work and personal lives. But, as Season 1 showed us, the division isn’t always so neat.

Season 1 wrapped last April, and there’s currently no timetable for the release of the problem-riddled Season 2.

Launch Gallery: <i>Severance</i>: 9 Burning Questions We Still Have After the Season 1 Finale