Manifest's resurrection over at Netflix comes with an impressive budget increase and raises for its cast members. Over the course of the past few months, paranormal drama Manifest has become television's latest miraculous success story. The series ran for three seasons over on NBC and was intended to have several more to fully unspool its airplane-related mystery. Sadly, however, Manifest's ratings had been on the decline for several years, and NBC axed the series not long after its season 3 finale aired. Fans quickly started up a campaign online to keep Manifest alive, an effort that received the support from creator Jeff Rake.
Initially, it looked like those efforts wouldn't do much to save Manifest. About a week after the show's cancellation, Netflix reportedly passed on reviving the series. At the same time, the first two seasons arrived on the streamer and became one of the biggest acquired shows to hit the service. This renewed Netflix and NBC's interest in Manifest, and the news fans had been waiting for arrived last weekend: Netflix has renewed Manifest for a fourth and final 20-episode season.
Though Manifest is far from the only show Netflix has saved, it is the most recent and one of the most high-profile examples. Hollywood insider Matt Belloni offered some fresh details about how the renewal came to be and even shared some intel on the money side of the deal. At Netflix, Manifest's episodic budget will increase by $1 million, going from $4 million to $5 million. Additionally, the cast will see a pay increase because their options had expired while waiting for news of a pickup. This deal will also benefit Rake, who will earn a bit more himself.
Broadcast budgets are often somewhat tricky to navigate, so the additional money being steered toward Manifest season 4 can increase the show's production quality substantially. Even aside from the leeway streaming provides in terms of content and episode length, audiences can likely expect a change in quality when it comes to how Manifest looks on Netflix. This deal also indicates Netflix is confident in its decision to pick up the series for season 4; it's willing to shell out the extra bucks in order to give Rake, the cast, and the fans a proper conclusion for the show's twisty mystery.
As this deal has only recently been made, fans shouldn't expect Manifest season 4 to arrive any time soon. Assuming the scripts are being written now, production might not kick off until much later this year, or perhaps even early 2022. It isn't entirely clear which cast members are returning to Manifest, but it's likely much of the original crew will be back, from Josh Dallas (Ben) to Melissa Roxburgh (Michaela). Nevertheless, Manifest season 4 is on the way, and it's got a bit more cash giving it a boost.
Source: Matt Belloni