Smash-hit television series Money Heist (or La Casa De Papel in Spain) blew up on the international stage after being picked up by Netflix in 2017. Few people realise that the first two seasons, while popular, failed to deliver viewership numbers domestically. So much so that the series, created by Spanish television channel Antena 3, was effectively binned. Shelved. No more.
Then the phenomenon started to snowball with a wider audience and the cast and crew were called back by the streaming giant to fuel the fire for another two explosive seasons. Ever since the release of Money Heist season 4, which dropped on Netflix April 3rd, we’ve been asking the question – will there ever be a Money Heist season 5?
Is Money Heist Season 5 confirmed?
In short, yes. Netflix would literally be throwing money down the drain if they didn’t press on with one of their most popular originals of all-time.
To some surprise, Money Heist even pipped cult-hit Tiger King in a quarantine streaming tug-of-war during the month of April, copping 65 million viewers to Tiger King’s 64 million over the same period of time.
“It’s pure rock’n’roll,” said Álvaro Morte, who plays the Professor, speaking of the binge-worthy popularity of Money Heist to The Guardian. “Once you see the first chapter of the show, you are lost in it.”
Earlier this year Spanish site Marca announced that both a Money Heist season 5 and season 6 have been confirmed. The show’s director, Jesús Colmenar, has also affirmed the greenlight of Money Heist season 5 at the least, telling Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia that “there is going to be a fifth [season]”.
Most recently, however, showrunner Álex Pina posted a shot of himself at production headquarters with the caption “Writing Money Heist Season 5”.
Pina himself also confirmed to Deadline that there will be a Money Heist season 5, joking that ‘Netflix will put a bomb in my house’ if he leaks any further details.
What will the fifth season of Money Heist be about?
[Spoilers Ahead]
Due to the nature of the show’s production, viewers have now seen two separate heists, each spanning across two seasons for a total of four parts. While the first heist more or less went to plan, the same can’t be said for how we left things inside the Bank of Spain at the end of season 4.
Nairobi’s (Alba Flores) execution was a major riff in the closing episodes, shattering the core team and exacerbating the chaos inside the bank even further. Then came the extraction of Raquel from the authorities which saw her dramatically re-enter the bank, while the Professor was simultaneously discovered by rogue police officer Alicia Sierra.
It’s not inconceivable to think that, given we’ve seen two heists for each pair of seasons, the upcoming Money Heist season 5 and possible season 6 will share the same format, perhaps focusing on a new heist all together, maybe even internationally. But that can’t be started until the loose ends of season 4 are tied up first. The show also loves to dabble in a non-linear approach to story-telling, so we could see Nairobi return (much like Berlin’s character did in the later seasons) after all.
Viewers also probably didn’t notice the unexpected easter egg waiting for them just seconds after the credits rolled on season 4 – a unique rendition of ‘Bella Ciao’ by Money Heist actress herself, Najwa Nimri (who plays the aforementioned police officer that outed the Professor in the final scene). Given that it was previously only sung on-screen by those loyal to the cause, could this be a sign that the Sierra will be joining the Professor and his gang for season 5? Only time will tell, but if so, that’d really shake up the dynamics of the next season.
Showrunner Alex Piña also floated the idea of ‘spinoffs’ with Oprah Magazine, which would be a likely outcome if season 5 of Money Heist was to purely wrap up the storyline in one succinct and dramatic send-off rather than embark on a new adventure.
“We do have many possibilities for some spinoffs, yes, and I think that’s thanks to the strong and powerful identities of the characters. We’ve always looked for characters to have a very complex, layered design. So I think almost every character of Money Heist has a duality that we would like to see in a spinoff. We could watch any of them in other contexts.”
When can we expect a season 5 release date?
On March 15, Netflix hit pause on the production of all its original series for two weeks due to the current global situation. Similar setbacks were felt across the entertainment industry, with the likes of Netflix’s other binge-worthy crime series Bodyguard also suffering delays.
However, fans had to wait as little as nine months between Money Heist parts 3 and 4, which were likely shot together, meaning when it does return, we could be on for one hell of a ride.
Currently, there are a total of 31 episodes of La Casa de Papel on Netflix across four parts. And if you really can’t get enough, we’d recommend watching Money Heist: The Phenomenon, a behind the scenes look at how the show was saved from a domestic-bound fate and revived to international fame.