House of Cards back without Spacey

Netflix this week resumed production on the final season of “House of Cards,” minus its star, Kevin Spacey, but plus new cast members Diane Lane and Greg Kinnear.

The White House drama is filming its shortened sixth season, which will consist of eight episodes rather than the usual 13, after Spacey was fired in November following news of repeated incidents of sexual assault that date back years but continued on the Cards set.

Robin Wright will now lead the series as Claire Underwood, the wife of Spacey’s Francis, who became president in the fifth season. Lane and Kinnear will play siblings, Netflix said, providing no further information on their characters. No première date has been set.

Other cast members, including Michael Kelly, Jayne Atkinson, Patricia Clarkson, Constance Zimmer and Campbell Scott will also return.

Cards shut down Oct. 31 after about two weeks of production near Baltimore, and it was initially unclear whether the show would be scrapped entirely.

Crew members were paid through Dec. 8. (Netflix had abruptly announced the sixth season would be its last). But Wright’s interest in continuing helped spur Netflix and Media Rights Capital, the studio behind the series, to resume, so writers took a break to rewrite the final season. Much of the footage from two episodes already shot will likely be scrapped.