The new year might have just started, but American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy is thinking way past 2018. Murphy revealed during the Television Critics Association’s semi-annual press tour in Pasadena on Friday that season eight of AHS will take place in the—wait for it—future.
“All I’ll say about it is I want to go to the future — still topical, but the future, which I’ve never done,” Murphy said, according to Entertainment Weekly.
This probably means it'll be years, maybe decades, after season 7's present-day setting in Trump's America—but it could be a look at the aftermath. And even though he's keeping quiet about other details, we do know what the season is not about: outer space, as Murphy confirmed.
The writers won't start working on the script until February, but the storyline has been approved by FX. “I pitched it to [FX chief] John Landgraf today right after his TCA panel, and he loved it, but he’s asked me not to say what it is,” Murphy said. “I told him, and he fell out of his chair with joy. I think people will like it; it’s different from what we’ve done before, but I always try and do the opposite of what I’ve done on that show.”
Given that the show had literally just been pitched, Murphy says he hasn't started casting yet, but he hopes that Evan Peters—who is also working on Murphy's new FX drama Pose—will come back for another season. "It’s conceivable that they could overlap. I mean, Sarah Paulson has done two shows for me that were shooting at the same time," he explained. "Usually, with the actors, I think of a role and then go to them and they either want to do it or not, so I haven’t even talked to Evan about what the role might be, but I would hope so. I think so.”
Surprisingly, even though season eight is in the early stages of coming together, season nine of AHS has actually already been in the works. The season will be the much-anticipated crossover between Murder House and Coven from seasons 1 and 3. “We’re working on it, but it’s not going to be the next season,” Murphy said. “Next season is season eight, and it’ll probably be the one after that. “We’ve already met about it and outlined it, but it won’t be next, because some of the people are not available.”
Murphy wants all of the original cast members back together for the crossover including Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton, Jessica Lang, and Kathy Bates. "Everybody who is involved in the show has always said, ‘Yeah, that sounds like fun, let’s get the band back together again.’ So that is one of the reasons why the writing process of that season is taking longer because it’s literally 25 people’s schedules. But I’m hopeful they will all be back.”
Related Stories:
-Ryan Murphy May Have Finally Explained How Each 'American Horror Story' Season Is Connected-Sarah Paulson and Ryan Murphy's New TV Show Sounds Even Creepier Than 'American Horror Story'-Sarah Paulson on Playing American Horror Story and American Crime Story Characters at the Same Time
