While the theme for season 10 of American Horror Story hasn't been announced yet, Ryan Murphy has announced that due to delays in filming because of COVID-19, there might need to be a last-minute change to the theme.
Ever since Murphy released the cast announcement trailer, the theme for season 10 has been ripe for speculation. While the most commonly accepted theory revolves around an aquatic horror theme of some sort, given the first teaser image, announcement trailer, and his filming location of a coastal New England town, this might end up having to be shelved for a future season. Murphy recently said that production was shut down, and they were scheduled to start filming in May, as the show was "weather-dependent". While this certainly adds weight to the theory about the season involving some level of aquatic horror for numerous reasons, it doesn't mean fans will never get the season Murphy had planned.
American Horror Story season 10 is certainly a landmark season for many reasons, including its inclusion of prominently missing cast members Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters, who have been with the series since 2011 in season 1, and were both absent in season 9, 1984. Murphy has stated that he could wait to shoot the season until next year, but per an interview with The Wrap, he's unsure of the direction he'll take for season 10. Even though COVID-19 leaves a lot of uncertainty in the film industry, there are still a couple directions the show could take.
Ryan Murphy is notorious for having several ideas regarding American Horror Story in his pocket at all times. For example, he teased season 8's crossover between Murder House and Coven years in advance. He has also said that he intends to bring the witches from Coven back again somehow; whether this means he has a specific plot or theme in mind, or a specific story is unknown; rather, it could just be a desire to revisit those characters without anything further fleshed out. However, as one of the most prolific creators in Hollywood, with more than a few projects going simultaneously, such as series on Netflix like The Politician and Hollywood, anthology series American Crime Story, and other scripted network series like Pose attached to his name, Murphy seems to have a plan for just about everything. He also teases themes seasons in advance sometimes in regards to American Horror Story, and has confirmed that every season of the show is connected.
As Murphy has said that he doesn't know what his next move with American Horror Story will be since filming has been delayed, that might seem like season 10 is canceled. However, he has mentioned that he could "accelerate" another season instead; there is one way, albeit a very creative and out of the box one, that could work, as horror has seen great success with it in the past. In the wake of COVID-19, shows have had to use their creativity and the abundance of accessible technology to keep producing content. Long-running sketch series, Saturday Night Live, has done "at home" episodes, as an example, with cast members and guests submitting independently produced sketches that rely heavily on Zoom, Skype, and other accessible ways of filming and editing.
The found footage genre has been extremely successful for horror in the past, with Paranormal Activity as an example. The 2009 film was made on a budget of $15,000, but managed to gross $193.4 million at the box office, which is an insane return. Given that Murphy's cast has ample experience in front of and behind the camera, there's nothing that says they couldn't do some limited run of American Horror Story that features an "at home" or found footage style to either act as a pre-cursor to the season Murphy wants to shoot, or even create something entirely new between May and September, when the series usually premieres.
