Final 'House of Cards' season to focus on Robin Wright after Spacey exit

The final season of Netflix's political drama "House of Cards" will focus on Robin Wright's first female president character and will start production in 2018, following a hiatus after the exit of star Kevin Spacey, the company said on Monday.

Netflix's Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos told the UBS 45th Annual Global Media and Communications Conference in New York that the sixth season would be shortened to eight episodes instead of the usual 13.

Netflix Inc <NFLX.O> severed ties in November with Spacey, one of its biggest stars who played fictional U.S. president Frank Underwood in “House of Cards,” after accusations of sexual misconduct against the Oscar-winning actor.

Reuters was unable to independently confirmed the accusations.

"We have made an arrangement to produce six seasons of 'House of Cards'. It will be an eight-episode season. It will start production in early 2018 and it will not involve Kevin Spacey," Sarandos said.

Sarandos did not say when season six would air or how Spacey's character would be treated in the show.

A representative for Spacey did not respond to a request for comment.

Wright's character, Claire Underwood, finished season five by winning election as the first U.S. female president after wresting power from her husband.

Claire Underwood has moved center stage since "House of Cards" premiered in 2013, going from the wife of Spacey's congressman to first lady and then vice president.

Wright has won a Golden Globe for her role, and earned five Emmy nominations.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant in Los Angeles and Laharee Chatterjee and Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva, Toni Reinhold)