The fourth and final season of Netflix's hit drama Ozark will begin production this fall, according to series star and executive producer Jason Bateman. The upcoming 14-episode season will be split into two 7-episode parts that will premiere separately on the streaming platform.

In an interview, Bateman said, `We're going to start November 9. Everything is moving well toward that, and we're very confident in the guidelines and protocols we're going to be following. We've got tons of consultants, [and] we're learning a lot from other productions.`

Even with safety protocols in place, the likelihood of the virus spreading among the Georgia-based production is arguably high. (The state experienced a spike in new cases in the month of July.)

In the past, Bateman has directed the first two episodes of each season (in addition to the final two episodes of Season 1), but he indicates that the possibility of exposure to COVID-19 makes it extremely unlikely he'll step behind the camera at any point during Season 4. `As normal, I was going to do the first two episodes, but as we were looking through the protocols, the guidelines, all the complications with COVID, [and] the producer side of me made me think it's just not responsible to have one of the actors direct the first two, given that we're still going to be getting our perimeter safe,` he said.

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#Ozark Season 4 is set to start production on November 9, but COVID-19 precautions have caused Jason Bateman to step back from directing duties. In the interest of safety, Bateman has decided not to direct the first two episodes of the new season: `It's breaking my heart. I love directing that show, but it just didn't make any sense to start out the season like that." Read more about it at the link in our bio.⁠ --⁠ #jasonbateman #tv #covid⁠ ⁠

A post shared by IndieWire (@indiewire) on Aug 18, 2020 at 2:34pm PDT

In fairness, it's entirely possible the rate of new cases could drop significantly between now and the production's start date in November, so maybe Bateman will get to direct one or two final episodes before wrapping up Ozark for good. There's currently no word on a release window for Season 4, but it's safe to assume we'll be seeing it sometime towards the end of 2021.