There’s more dark material in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s future…

HBO and BBC One have renewed the fantasy drama His Dark Materials, starring the 40-year-old Puerto Rican actor, singer and composer/lyricist, for a third and final season.

HBO and BBC One will run with the eight-episode season set to close the story.

The latest season, which is based on Philip Pullman’s novels, begins production in Cardiff, Wales in 2021.

This comes as the second season of the Bad Wolf-produced drama concludes on Monday, December 28 on HBO.

Last month, Bad Wolf co-founder Jane Tranter reported that Jack Thorne and a team of writers were working on scripts and that the series will be based on The Amber Spyglass. In January, HBO programming chief Casey Bloys has said that he was particularly pleased that the drama had been a co-viewing hit with families.

The second season, which consisted of seven episodes due to COVID-19, follows Lyra, played by Dafne Keen, a seemingly ordinary but brave young woman from another world. It begins as Lyra, distraught over the death of her best friend, embarks upon a journey in a strange and mysterious abandoned city. There she meets Will, played by Amir Wilson, a boy from our world who is also running from a troubled past. Lyra and Will learn their destinies are tied to reuniting Will with his father but find their path is constantly thwarted as a war begins to brew around them. Meanwhile, Mrs. Coulter, played by Ruth Wilson, searches for Lyra, determined to bring her home by any means necessary.

Season two series regulars also include Miranda, Ariyon Bakare, Andrew Scott, Will Keen and Ruta Gedmintas. New cast members this season included Terence Stamp, Jade Anouka and Simone Kirby.

His Dark Materials is produced by Bad Wolf in association with New Line Cinema for BBC One and HBO.

“Bringing Phillip Pullman’s epic, intricate and culturally resonant body of work to television has been a tremendous privilege,” said Francesca Orsi, Executive Vice President, HBO Programming. “We thank our incredible partners at the BBC and the entire Bad Wolf team, led by the indefatigable Jane Tranter, for their exceptional work on the first two seasons.  We look forward to completing the trilogy with this final chapter in Lyra’s journey.”

Lin-Manuel Miranda will be going dark next month…

HBO and BBC big-budget co-production His Dark Materials, starring the 40-year-old Puerto Rican composer, lyricist, actor, singer, rapper, producer, and playwright, will be back with a bang in November for its second season.

HBO will launch the second season of the Bad Wolf-produced adaptation of the Philip Pullman books at 9 p.m. November 16. It will also be available to stream on HBO Max.

This comes as the team behind the series, which includes writer Jack Thorne, are prepping scripts for a possible third season. Although a third run hasn’t been commissioned, the hope on all sides is for it to run for more seasons.

HBO programming chief Casey Bloys told Deadline earlier this year that the first season had performed very well for the network and that he would like to do more. “One of the things that I was hoping for, and the numbers we’re seeing bear this out, it is more of a co-viewing show than we’ve ever had. We don’t have many shows where kids and parents can watch together, and that was the idea with this show and it has done really well.”

The first two seasons of the show essentially are based on Pullman’s Northern Lights and The Subtle Knife. Jane Tranter, who runs Bad Wolf with Julie Gardner, told Deadline that if possible they would like to split the “huge” and “sprawling” third book The Amber Spyglass into two additional seasons.

The second season begins after Lord Asriel has opened a bridge to a new world, and Lyra, distraught over the death of her best friend, follows Asriel into the unknown. In a strange and mysterious abandoned city, she meets Will, a boy from our world who also is running from a troubled past. Lyra and Will learn their destinies are tied to reuniting Will with his father but find their path is constantly thwarted as a war begins to brew around them. Meanwhile, Mrs. Coulter searches for Lyra, determined to bring her home by any means necessary.

In addition to Miranda, Season 2 series regulars include Dafne Keen, Ruth Wilson, Amir Wilson, Ariyon Bakare, Andrew Scott, Will Keen and Ruta Gedmintas. Joining the cast this season are Terence Stamp, Jade Anouka and Simone Kirby.