FX’s highly acclaimed, highly anticipated dysfunctional kitchen/family drama “The Bear” returned to Hulu yesterday, June 26, to much online fanfare (fans were binge-watching the series immediately). Created by Christopher Storer and co-showrun by Storer and Joanna Calo, the two sole directors on the series thus far aside from a Ramy Youseff (“Ramy”) directorial guest spot in season two and a new slate of directors scheduled for season three, earlier this year, it was reported that “The Bear” was scheduled to shoot season three and four back to back.
The reasoning, it seemed, as the cast got bigger and bigger and more in demand—especially Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Ayo Edebiri, all of them lining up major movie roles, with Moss-Bachrach lining up a major role in Marvel’s “Fantastic Four”— it was harder to keep everyone around and the idea would be to bang out two seasons in a row and not have to worry about their availability in a year’s time.
READ MORE: ‘The Bear’ Quietly Renewed For Season 4 & Will Shoot 3-4 Back To Back
The optimistic thinking also probably assumed you’d have a ‘Bear’ season 3’ in July and then probably a season 4 early in 2025 since both were in the can. But that ambitious plan didn’t really happen as planned. For one, sources told The Playlist recently that the plan was scrapped as scripts weren’t ready in time.
And earlier this week, the cast essentially confirmed as much. We attended a press conference for “The Bear,” which included the aforementioned cast members plus Lionel Boyce, Liza Colón-Zayas, Abby Elliott, and Matty Matheson, and we put the question straight to the cast. Did seasons three and four shoot back to back, and if so, when will we expect season 4?
The cast played a little cagey, with Allen White saying, “We did something like that.” and Edebiri added, “Yeah, a little version of it, sort of. But not exactly.”
“Not exactly,” White added. “Is that helpful for journalism?” Edebiri quipped? “You’ll have to find out,” Abby Elliott concluded.
FX confirmed the cast’s statements: seasons three and four weren’t shot back to back, but some elements were shot in advance. However, how much of that is other than “a little” is unknown.
We’ve heard season 4 will resume production in early 2025, but that all might depend on the availability of the cast (though FX had no comment on this or any other aspect). Allen White is supposed to star in A24’s “Nebraska”/Bruce Springsteen film in the fall and should be done by then—though dates always change— and Moss-Bachrach stars shooting “The Fantastic Four” in late July, right after Comic-Con 2024, so he had a hard out as it was on “The Bear.” Ayo Ederbi recently dropped out of Marvel’s “Thunderbolts” because production ran late, and she had other commitments to get to, so she could possibly be busy as well. She will soon appear in Luca Guadagnino’s “After The Hunt” starring Julia Roberts, but that should be done by the end of 2024, leaving a possible window available for early 2025 to happen (and the speed in which this show shoots means, it could be ready by summer 2025, but these are a lot of “ifs”).
Personally, one does get the sense, though, that “The Bear” could be ending with season four— the initial back-to-back shooting plan intended to secure the actors while they can and before their increasingly in-demand obligations just make the show untenable on a scheduling level. While certainly not confirmed, still, there are indications that everyone is getting ready to move on as Storer already has booked and planned another show lined up for FX and a movie line-up to direct, too, so it seems as though everyone is planning their exit strategy and wanting to leave on top.
That’s just speculation, but if I were a betting man, I’d say it feels like the “The Bear” is starting to wind down. Directors on season three include Storer and Calo again, but also guest directors like the show’s own Ayo Edebiri and Duccio Fabbri, who is known for second unit directing work on “The Whale,” “Good Time,” and “Wildlife.” More info when we get it, but if you were expecting two seasons of “The Bear” to arrive fairly quick succession, you’ll want to keep the heat on a low simmer and remain patient.