Bridgerton is returning for season 4 in 2026 — but could it actually take Netflix over a year to drop new episodes of the show?
Netflix announced earlier this month that production on season 4 had wrapped. While some viewers saw it as one step closer to the show coming back, others pointed out that season 3 wrapped filming in March 2023 and stayed in post-production until May of this year. Going by that same 14-month timeline, fans speculated that season 4 could come back as late as September 2026.
Showrunner Jess Brownell originally confirmed in June 2024 that there was an estimated two-year wait for season 4.
“We are working to try and put the seasons out more quickly, but they do take eight months to film and then they have to be edited and then they have to be dubbed into every language,” Brownell told The Hollywood Reporter.
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Brownell noted that the priority was making the best season possible, adding, “The writing takes a very long time as well, so we’re kind of on a two-year pace. We’re trying to speed up, but somewhere in that range.”
Fans of Bridgerton are used to waiting years for new content. Season 1 of the hit period drama debuted in 2020 with Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon (Regé-Jean Page) as the main focus of the show. The Netflix series, which is based on Julia Quinn‘s books, highlighted Anthony’s (Jonathan Bailey) love story with Kate (Simone Ashley) two years later.
Before Bridgerton returned earlier this year with Colin (Luke Newton) and Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) as the focus, Netflix expanded the universe with the prequel series Queen Charlotte, which premiered in 2023. Now, viewers are on the edge of their seats waiting for season 4, which will explore Benedict’s (Luke Thompson) romance with Sophie (Yerin Ha).
Netflix confirmed in May that the show will be returning for seasons 5 and 6. It remains to be seen who will be the focus of the next installments — but according to Bridgerton author Quinn, that has already been decided.
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“I know who is scheduled next,” Quinn, 55, exclusively told Us Weekly in May. “It could always change, like, [the order] has changed in the past.”
She added: “My hope is that all the siblings will eventually take the lead because we love them [all]. That was kind of the whole point of the books is that you’ve got these eight separate stories, but they’re all connected.”
Quinn went on to say that it “was fine” that the show opted to switch up the order of the books.
“With books or film or television, they have different needs … to make them work well, and they have different strengths,” she explained. “Certain things that work great in the book don’t necessarily work well on television. And so, one of the things about the television show, which they changed up a bit [that] was necessary, was to turn it a little bit more into an ensemble.”
Bridgerton is currently streaming on Netflix.
