Ne-Yo Joins Empire For Second Season, Expands To 18 Episodes

Fox has some big plans for season two of “Empire.”

The network’s breakout hit will expand to 18 episodes and return to its same Wednesday 9 p.m. timeslot (“We’d be crazy to move it,” said Fox Television Group Co-Chairman Gary Newman)— but the season will be split in two halves, one for fall, one for spring — with a crazy cliffhanger for the midseason hiatus in which a fourth Lyon son emerges. He'll be played by Zac Efron. “We don’t want to be greedy, if we came back with the audience we left off with we’d be thrilled,” said Fox Television Group Co-Chairman/CEO Dana Walden — Newman’s counterpart.

Season 2 will start in the fall this year instead of in January, and then take a break before resuming midseason.

Also new for Season 2 the songwriting team will also get a new addition: Ne-Yo.

“We just signed Ne-Yo who’s going to be writing all new music with Timbaland,” FOX co-chairs Dana Walden and Gary Newman have announced.

Ne-Yo will reportedly remain behind the scenes, for now.

Expect more announcements on “Empire’s” second season next month, when much of the marketing begins its rollout.

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