Hulu has set a June 5 date for the third season return of the Handmaid’s Tale, which will make it ineligible for the 2019 Emmy Awards.
Hulu senior vice president of originals Craig Erwich addressed the Emmy award-winning series’ delayed return during the streaming services' Television Critics Association winter tour session Monday by saying Hulu wanted to take time to make sure the quality of the show remains intact. The previous two seasons of Handmaid's Tale premiered in April.
The deadline for submission of 2019 Emmy-eligible shows in May 31.
“Maintaining the quality of TheHandmaid's Tale takes time,” said Erwich, who added the show will have a different tone from season two, which generated some criticism from TV critics.
Erwich also said he doesn’t expect any changes to be made to the streaming service once the Walt Disney Co. acquisition of 21st Century Fox is completed. Disney at that point will hold a majority interest in Hulu, with AT&T and Comcast holding minority interests.
“Hulu is a very important strategic asset for our owners,” Erwich said. “We will continue to be an important [streaming] player for our owners.”
Erwich also announced new series Reprisal, which stars Abigail Spencer as a femme fatale who, after being left for dead, leads a vengeful campaign against a gang of gear heads. The streaming service also greenlit new series The Great, which takes a comedic ride through 18th Century Russia following the rise of Catherine the Nothing to Catherine the Great.
Hulu also announced that it is teaming with Paramount TV to develop the best-selling thriller The Devil in the White City, with Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Stacey Sher, Rick Yorn, Emma Koskoff, and Jennifer Davisson serving as executive producers on the series.
