'House of Cards' to resume production in 2018 without Kevin Spacey

“House of Cards” will resume production in 2018 without Kevin Spacey, according to Ted Sarandos, the chief content officer of Netflix.

The sixth and final season of the popular series will feature a lead role for Robin Wright, who plays the wife of Spacey's character.

Production on the sixth season of “House of Cards” came to a halt Oct. 31 following bombshell sexual misconduct allegations against Spacey, who starred in the series for five seasons as politician Frank Underwood and also served as an executive producer. Spacey was officially suspended from the show early last month.

The allegations include an accusation from actor Anthony Rapp, who claimed that Spacey made an unwanted sexual advance decades ago when Rapp was still a minor. Spacey has also been accused by eight current and former “House of Cards” employees of creating a “toxic” work environment with his behavior. The allegations include one former production assistant who said Spacey sexually assaulted him during one of the show's early seasons.

Sarandos said Monday at the UBS 45th Annual Global Media and Communications Conference that the final season of “House of Cards” will consist of eight episodes. Previous seasons consisted of 13 episodes each.

It remains unclear how Spacey's character will be written out of the show, which films in Maryland. Sarandos said that he was glad that Netflix was able to reach a deal for the “2,000 people in Baltimore” who work on the series.

Media Rights Capital produces “House of Cards” and licenses the show to Netflix. The 200-member crew of the hit drama has been on a paid hiatus since early November as Netflix and Media Rights Capital tried to sort out the future of the show without its star.

“House of Cards” was Netflix's first hit series when it debuted in 2013. But the show is now regarded as past its prime. Creator and showrunner Beau Willimon left the series last year after four seasons.

Netflix had also worked with Spacey on a movie in which the actor stars as the late writer Gore Vidal. But the streaming service said last month after Spacey's sex scandal broke that it will no longer release the feature.

david.ng@latimes.com