'Castle' season 8 spoilers: Kate Beckett to be written off in the story? Stana Katic speaks on ABC ending her contract

The finale is now closing in for "Castle" season 8, yet ABC still has not confirmed if the show will be renewed or not.There were rumors making rounds about the show being canceled by ABC, following Stana Katic's contract being terminated. The actress plays one of the series' two leads named Kate Beckett, opposite Nathan Fillion's Rick Castle.

ABC reportedly green-lighted another season, but without Katic's character. This recent development caused a major shake-up in the show's production, along with Tamala Jones' exit who is also an original cast member. According to Deadline, both ABC and ABC studios decided to end Katic and Jones' contract due to "budgetary reasons." When asked for a comment with regards to leaving the show, Katic did not give much details but she took the chance to thank her fans. "Rather than distract from what was an amazing experience, I would just like to say that I'm very grateful to ABC for giving me the opportunity to be a part of a much-beloved show. Thank you to the fans," she said.

Executive producers Terence Paul Winter and Alexi Hawley recently caught up with TVLine where they mentioned about creating alternate endings just in case ABC decides to cancel the show. "We have one ending, a cliffhanger that we're excited about, because we believe in Castle and we believe that ABC will hopefully, hopefully bring us back," Winter said.

"Obviously our hope is that we come back 'all hands on deck' for Season 9, but everybody needs to make deals," co-showrunner Hawley stated. "There's stuff up in the air, so we are trying to leave it in a very dynamic way which leaves open the possibility that maybe the show won't come back in the same form next season — although, again, we really hope that it does."

Once confirmed by ABC, "Castle" season 9 is expected to premiere sometime next year. However, the show is speculated to span a total of 13 episodes only.