The Witcher season 4 release date: is next series of Netflix fantasy delayed, has actors’ strike hit filming?

Netflix announced Season 4 was happening back in October 2022, the same day that the streamer confirmed that Hunger Games star Liam Hemsworth would be taking over in the role of Geralt from Henry Cavill.

Season three parts one and two have now landed on Netflix, and fans will be eagerly bingeing the latest three episodes which were released today.

Season three was split into two segments released one month apart, but fans will have a much longer wait for the fourth instalment of the series.

The upcoming series has caused controversy over the decision to recast the hero Geralt, and Hemsworth was due to begin filming scenes for the show later this year. But the actors’ strike has cast doubt on when production will actually get underway and whether the show will not be delayed.

So when will fans return to the Continent, and is season five still happening - this is what we know so far:

Has the SAG-AFTRA strike affected The Witcher season 4?

The Witcher casting director Sophie Holland said back in May that filming on the new season would begin soon, and it was expected that production would get underway in September this year.

The shooting schedule was expected to take place from September 2023 to May 2024, however, Netflix had delayed the start of filming. A new start date for season four filming has not yet been revealed.

It is unclear which union Hemsworth is a member of, but as an actor who has appeared in American Australian productions, he is likely to be part of either SAG-AFTRA or MEAA (a union for Australian actors and creatives).

MEAA is not currently on strike, but other supporting cast members of The Witcher season four cast will be SAG-AFTRA members and their involvement in the strikes are certain to cause disruption to the filming schedule.

Netflix has not confirmed whether the SAG-AFTRA strikes are the reason behind the decision to delay the series. 

When could The Witcher season 4 be released?

There’s going to be a while to wait for the new season with filming still to get underway - there was a gap of two years between season one and two, with filming disrupted by the pandemic, and a gap of around two and half years before season three was released.

A factor in how long fans may have to wait for season four is the length of the SAG-AFTRA strikes. Production is unlikely to begin on the series until the strikes are resolved, and this could take months. The WGA strikes are approaching their third month and do not look close to ending.

If the strikes are resolved by autumn, Netflix may be able to get production underway quickly to make up for lost time, meaning that production could wrap on the fourth season by the middle of next year. 

With nine months of post-production expected, season four could hit Netflix in the first quarter of 2025, but right now this is just a best guess. Check back here for updates on The Witcher season four release date. 

Season five of The Witcher was also announced last year, and showrunners said that there would be a ‘short break’ between wrapping on season four and starting season five. Even so, it’s unlikely that the fifth season of the show will arrive until at least 2025.