Deadline reports that Brett Mahoney, who acted as interim showrunner for the second half of Season 4, will permanently replace Ilene Chaiken as Empire’s full-time showrunner in Season 5.
When Fox announced Empire’s Season 4 renewal, they did not initially disclose the number of episodes for that installment either.
Fox has not revealed what the episode count for Season 5 will be.
Empire’s first season consisted of 12 episodes, while its second, third, and fourth seasons comprised 18.