As the premiere date nears, fans' excitement for "The Originals" season 4 is gradually turning into fear. Latest reports claimed that the next season of the hit CW drama could be the last.

The cancellation news started when The CW announced that the upcoming eighth season of "The Vampire Diaries" would be the show's last. Unfortunately, the final season will be a shortened one, comprising of only 16 episodes.

"We all have discussed it and we've made the decision that this is it," The Hollywood Reporter quoted executive producer Julie Plec as saying during the San Diego Comic-Con. "This is going to be the final season of The Vampire Diaries. It's bittersweet and emotional and we're all going to be crying in a minute. It's been a beautiful run.... Get ready, because it's going to be an epic ride."

With this, some reports believed "The Originals" season 5 is unlikely to happen, seeing how The CW has not given an official renewal order for the series. The renewal odds for the supernatural drama is entirely low given the third season's performance in viewership ratings.

The third season of "The Originals," which aired from Oct. 8, 2015 until May 20, 2016, only garnered 0.39 demo rating in the 18-49 demographics, which is 36.26 percent lower than its predecessor, TV Series Finale reported. The third season ended with an average of 0.93 million viewers.

Meanwhile, the next season of the supernatural drama will feature a time jump from where things left in the finale episode of "The Originals" season 3. Executive producer Michael Narducci previously said that the time jump will concur with the way that the show will debut at a later time.

"We are going to have a little bit of a time jump in between when the story ends at the end of the finale and when we pick up in Season 4," Narducci told TV Guide. "That experience in the time jump will be similar to what the audience is feeling. To me, in a way, it actually makes sense."

"The Originals" season 4 is expected to premiere on Jan. 29, 2017.