‘Bates Motel’ Executive Producer Says A&E Series Will Last Five Seasons

We’ve got great news for “Bates Motel” fans -- the A&E series is not ending anytime soon. With Season 3 premiering this Monday, co-creator and executive producer Carlton Cuse revealed there is a five-season plan for the “Psycho” prequel.

“[Executive producer Kerry Ehrin] and I have a pretty clear road map,” Cuse told reporters during a conference call Friday. “We’re just finishing the third season right now, and we feel pretty strong that there’s two more seasons in the show. So we have a pretty clear plan of where we want to go, and we want to bring the story to its inevitable conclusion.”

Cuse added that “Bates Motel” was not created as an “open-ended” series. And fans of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film “Psycho” would more than likely agree.

“I think the audience is waiting for a conclusion, and we’re heading there,” Cuse continued. “We have that mapped out.”

This is a big update by Cuse, especially given he told Variety in June that the producers were working out the details of where the show should end. “This is not a show that should run for 10 years,” he said then, adding that he thought the series had a couple of more seasons. “I would hope that we would work that out with Universal and A&E and tell the audience exactly how much longer is left.”

“Bates Motel” may be based on “Psycho,” but the series certainly has its differences. Norma’s (Vera Farmiga) alive when viewers meet her in the television show, and she bought the Bates Motel after the death of Norman’s (Freddie Highmore) father. In Hitchcock’s movie, Norman says a boyfriend encouraged Norma to build the motel.

Meanwhile, the series also added multiple characters to provide more depth. In Season 1, viewers were introduced to Sheriff Romero (Nestor Carbonell), Norman’s brother Dylan (Max Thieriot) and Bates Motel employee Emma (Olivia Cooke). Norma’s brother Caleb (Kenny Johnson) surfaced in Season 2, along with new love interests for the characters.

Although the “Psycho” ending is well-known, fans will have to wait and see what kind of twist “Bates Motel” puts on it.

“We don’t want to do a literal version of what is in the movie because I think that would be anticlimactic,” Cuse told fans at the 2014 ATX Television Festival.

Are you excited that “Bates Motel” has a five-season plan? Tweet your thoughts to @AmandaTVScoop.