Work on the second season of The Witcher has been going on for some time and we know that Netflix is planning to introduce some significant changes to the production. We met one of them today, when the new director’s name was unveiled.
The several-month-long break in the recordings caused by the COVID-19 pandemic ended in August. Somewhere among the reports about new costumes , locations or the heroes’ returns, there is information about more and more changes to be introduced between seasons at the production level. We expect timely modifications regarding the premiere, and further work interruptions are possible due to sanitary restrictions in the near future. Today, however, information of a different nature has reached us – a new name has appeared on the director’s stool (literally!).
Louise Hopper is a British director, known for such titles as Flesh & Blood (2020) and Oszustka (2019). For some time it was suspected that she might be invited to work on The Witcher , which she herself confirmed in her recent posts on social networks. On her profile, she made available, among others photo from Rydal Cave in Lake District in North West England, where shooting for season two is currently taking place:
Visible great similarity between the Hooper and O’Gorman chairs. Actually, the only difference is the lack of an official logo for the show.
Moreover, it looks like Hooper will replace Geeta Patel, known to viewers for her first season episodes. Sources, incl. Production Weekly and Jay Maidment’s website announced the official, truncated directing line-up some time ago: Stephen Surjik, Ed Bazalgette and Sarah O’Gorman. It is worth noting that even before the pandemic began, Patel was also on this list. Perhaps the decision was made by changes in the schedule and prolonged production? Or maybe concerns about safety and reluctance to stay abroad for a longer time when there is an emergency?
Louise Hooper (right) and Geeta Patel (left)
It is already certain that Hooper will work on the newest episodes, but whether he will replace the predecessor or be the fifth production director – we will surely find out over time. However, if it has been decided to go with a squad of four, there are two options for what comes next. The first is the simplest and most intuitive: Louise will work on the sixth and seventh episodes, the ones that have been assigned to Geeta so far. However, there is also a second possibility, according to which responsibilities will be completely mixed and a new schedule of responsibility for individual episodes will be created. The sequence of recordings and the fact that Hooper was in England would then indicate that she is currently working on episode four (we know that scenes of the third were filmed last). As a reminder, the original January 2020 breakdown looked like this:
- Stephen Surjik ( The Umbrella Academy , MCU collaboration) – Episodes 1 & 2
- Sarah O’Gorman ( Damned , Jamestown ) – Episodes 3 & 4
- Ed Bazalgette ( Doctor Who , Fall of the Kingdom ) – Episodes 5 & 8
- Geeta Patel ( Runaways , You’re Dead Already ) – Episodes 6 & 7
The continuation of the series is announced for 2021. The exact date has not yet been announced, but due to such surprises and the great unknown at the moment, the future of the pandemic presents dynamic changes in the flow of all types of information on this subject. You can spend some time playing games, returning to already known episodes or seeing special material from the set , but there is still only waiting.