Good news for Orville fans! Like other productions, filming on The Orville was put on hold when Hollywood went on lockdown in March. Shooting on the third season had started in October 2019 and they were a bit shy of halfway done at the time of the halt. According to a source with the production, cameras will start rolling again in the first week of December.
Prep work for restarting season three has already begun, with some people already at work on the Fox lot in Century City, CA. Most of the cast and crew are expected to be on set after Thanksgiving weekend for rehearsals and to do some pick-up shots. Production will continue through December until the Christmas and New Year break, and then restart in early January.
It is expected that work under strict COVID protocols to complete season three will take five or six months in total. Production will restart on the Fox lot, with location shooting in Southern California also being planned. The Orville creator/executive producer Seth MacFarlane and executive producer Jon Cassar will continue to split directing duties for the rest of the season.
As of now, there isn’t a target date for The Orville season three’s debut on Hulu, but the team’s hope is to start the season before the end of 2021. Season three will consist of eleven episodes, each of which will have a longer runtime than episodes from the first two seasons, which aired on Fox Broadcast Network.