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Once Upon a Time: ABC boss on 'new direction' in potential season 7

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Though Once Upon a Time has not yet been renewed for a seventh season, a potential season 7 could see big changes coming to Storybrooke.

At the Television Critics Association’s press tour on Tuesday, EW sat down with ABC Chief Channing Dungey to expand on her earlier comments about the future of Once, particularly whether fans should expect any radical changes to the show in a potential seventh season.

“[Executive producers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis] would be looking for the seventh season to be a springboard in a new direction from a narrative standpoint,” Dungey tells EW, “which doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re not bringing cast back, it’s just how do you kind of hit the reset button in a way that gives you opportunity to expand the stories that we’re telling?”

However, it’s hard to imagine that every character would survive the season if OUAT truly is heading for a big shake-up. In a recent Hot Seat with the OUAT bosses, the duo played coy to a fan question asking whether an important character will die without coming back this season. (Though Robin Hood perished last season, Sean Maguire is reprising his role for a multi-episode arc.)

“Whenever there’s change, there’s always transition,” Dungey hedges in regards to whether she expects any cast exits. “It’s just too hard to really say more of anything. Until they really get their pitch finalized, it’s hard to really be more specific.”

Earlier Tuesday, EW posted an extensive interview with Dungey, where she addressed the future of Once Upon a Time, among other shows. The OUAT bosses, “as veterans of Lost, are fully conscious of all these things,” Dungey said of possibly setting an end date for the long-running fairy tale drama. “They came in and sat with us recently to talk about what their ideas would be for a season 7 and we’re in conversations about that right now. But I think this is absolutely a show that is beloved to us and if and when we decide to end it, we want to do it the right way and really give the fans the ending that they deserve. But I will say that Eddy and Adam have some really good ideas for future seasons.”

Once Upon a Time returns Sunday, March 5 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.