'Black Mirror' Season 6 Is Coming Soon: What to Know

Black Mirror Season 6 is finally in production, but it may be a while before fans get to see it for themselves. Netflix announced the next installment of this beloved series back in May, but so far details have been as quiet as possible. Here's a breakdown of every update we've gotten on the series so far.

Black Mirror Season 6 was first announced back in May by Variety, and the outlet learned in July that the show was officially in production. At the time, sources close to the production could confirm that it would have more episodes than Season 5, which infamously had only three episodes. At the same time, they promised that each episode would be long and that the whole season would be "more cinematic" than any previous installment. Some cast members have been confirmed as well, including Zazie Beetz, Rob Delaney, Paapa Essiedu, Josh Hartnett, Aaron Paul, Kate Mara, Danny Ramirez, Clara Rugaard, Auden Thornton and Anjana Vasan.

Beyond those tidbits, one of the best hints we've gotten about the series so far came from Beetz herself. The actress did not seem to be under any kind of secrecy mandate when she spoke to Deadline on the red carpet in August. Asked about Black Mirror, she said: "I just came off of shooting that, actually. I just shot that in June... I wouldn't say my character is having a lot of fun, but.. I think there's a really great tongue-in-cheek dark element to it, [a] premonition kind of element. The mirror reflecting back on us."

Delaney's casting was confirmed last, separate from the others. Early in September, sources close to the show told reporters from Collider that Delaney would be involved. Like the others, his role is being kept secret to avoid spoilers.

Perhaps most exciting for die-hard fans, the new season will reportedly have more episodes than Season 5. Season 5 was comprised of just three new episodes — the same as the first two seasons but down from Season 3 and Season 4, each of which had 6 episodes. They also said that each episode could be thought of as an individual film, which may have been a hint that episodes will be over an hour in length.

The swelling budget is no surprise considering how Netflix has invested in Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker. The writer and his creative partner Annabel Jones left their production company, House of Tomorrow, in January of 2020 and created an all-new company, Broke and Bones. Netflix immediately inked a huge deal with the new company which may reportedly total up to $100 million.

This name change nearly cost Brooker, Jones and Netflix the rights to the Black Mirror brand, however. According to a report by Variety, the rights to the title changed hands from House of Tomorrow's parent company to a new parent company, which then negotiated a favorable deal with Netflix to hand the show back over.

The deal comes just in the nick of time for Netflix, which suffered some huge financial setbacks and bad press in early 2022. Hopefully, a new season of Black Mirror can help set the course correctly, but there's no word yet on when that project might premiere. You can stream all five previous seasons plus the film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch on Netflix now.

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