'Empire' To End After Season 6, Still 'No Plans' for Jussie Smollett

Jussie Smollett won't be the only "Empire" actor who'll soon be out of a job -- 'cause the next season is going to be the show's last ... and the chances of him coming back for it continue to be slim.

FOX announced early Monday morning in its Upfront conference call that the network was canceling "Empire" after season 6, which will air next year. FOX Entertainment honcho Charlie Collier said they were turning the final season into a "large TV event" in an attempt to go out with "guns blazing."

When he was specifically asked about Jussie possibly coming back, Collier stuck to FOX's talking points from last month -- when it first announced the show's renewal -- saying there's an option to have Jussie return to the series, but there's no plans for it as of now.

As we reported ... FOX negotiated an extension to renew Jussie's option for season 6, but said they weren't planning on writing him back into the show. They essentially tied up his character's storyline with a wedding this past season, and had him sail off into the sunset.

Remember, Jussie is still in hot legal water with the City of Chicago ... which sued him for staging the "attack" and costing them hundreds of thousands of dollars in resources.

Based on the network's language, it sounds like they're waiting to see how that whole thing shakes out first before getting Jussie back on board for one last round. Until then though, he's out.