House of Cards Resumes Production, Diane Lane, Greg Kinnear Board Netflix Show for Final Season

House of Cards' sixth and final season has resumed production, Netflix announced Wednesday in the US. Filming on the political drama was put on hold back in October after allegations of sexual assault and harassment were made against its male lead, Kevin Spacey, who was then let go at the start of November.

For the upcoming season – which will have a total of eight episodes, instead of the usual thirteen – Diane Lane (Unfaithful, Man of Steel) and Greg Kinnear (As Good as It Gets, Little Miss Sunshine) have been added to the cast. Lane and Kinnear will play siblings, according to Variety, but it's not known in what capacity.

Both Lane and Kinnear are Oscar nominees, the former for her leading role in Unfaithful, while the latter for his performance in As Good as It Gets. Lane also plays Martha Kent in the DC film universe.

With Spacey missing from the picture, the spotlight for House of Cards season 6 will shift to the show's female lead, Robin Wright, who plays Claire Underwood. She will be joined by the likes of Michael Kelly (Doug Stamper), Jayne Atkinson (Catherine Durant), Patricia Clarkson (Jane Davis), Constance Zimmer (Janine Skorsky), Derek Cecil (Seth Grayson), Campbell Scott (Mark Usher) and Boris McGiver (Tom Hammerschmidt).

Clarkson and Scott were introduced in season 5 last year, Cecil came on board in season 2, while the rest of the cast have been with House of Cards since the very beginning. Behind the camera, Frank Pugliese and Melissa James Gibson are now in charge as showrunners for the second year running, after creator Beau Willimon departed at the end of season 4.

House of Cards remains one of Netflix's biggest original successes, with seven Emmy wins and two Golden Globe awards since it began. The show's critical acclaim dropped last year with season 5, and with Spacey's non-involvement casting its own cloud, it'll be interesting to see how House of Cards wraps up.