Glee Delays Production and Season Premiere in Wake of Cory Monteith's Death

Glee's Season 5 premiere has been delayed in the wake of star Cory Monteith's sudden death, Fox announced in a statement on Friday.

The musical comedy will return on Thursday, Sept. 26 instead of Thursday, Sept. 19, because production will not start on the new season until early August. There were no further details about Monteith's death and how the show will address the loss of his character, Finn Hudson.

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Although some members of the cast, including Matthew Morrison, Naya Rivera and Jane Lynch, have opened up about his passing, Monteith's girlfriend, series star Lea Michele, as well as co-creator and executive producer Ryan Murphy, have yet to speak publicly about his death. The writers of Glee reportedly held an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss how to move forward on the series, according to TMZ.

Monteith was found dead on Saturday in a hotel in downtown Vancouver, Canada, at the age of 31. Monteith, who died from a lethal combination of heroin and alcohol, had voluntarily admitted himself in a treatment facility for substance addiction in March. He had previously entered rehab for drug abuse when he was 19.