“I am devastated and deeply disappointed, but also trying to hold on to very real gratitude.” These are the words of Leigh Bardugo, the writer of the Shadow and Bone trilogy, after discovering that Netflix had canceled the adaptation of her work after two seasons. Not only do they leave the fantastic story unfinished but Six of Crows, the project they developed as a spin-off and also based on novels by the Israeli author, remains in the development phase and will not be produced.
Shadow and Bone, which was brought to television by Eric Heisserer and ended its second season in March, is one of the five series canceled by the platform. Yes, Netflix has brought out the guillotine this week after the actors’ strike has ended and, therefore, the company cannot be accused of making decisions at a time of particular tension in the industry.
For example, it should come as no surprise that The Glamor is another victim. The series starring the YouTuber Miss Benny and a veteran actress like Kim Cattrall (Sex and the City), focused on the workers of a makeup company, was battered by critics and, more importantly, for the streaming service , did not arouse any enthusiasm among subscribers.
In its first week in the catalog it settled for eighth position among the most viewed series in English, rising to fourth position in the second and disappearing definitively in the third at the beginning of July. Its journey through the most viewed lists was the antithesis of word-of-mouth, which was not very encouraging considering that it was Netflix’s strong bet for Pride.
And, just filling Netflix’s television morgue, three adult animated series: Farzar, Captain Fall and Agent Elvis. In this last case, she is surprising because of how powerful the team is. The series imagined Elvis Presley as a secret agent voiced by Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey and with Priscilla Presley, the late singer’s ex-wife, as co-creator and executive producer.
Elvis, furthermore, has been highly sought after by the entertainment industry in recent months. First with the biopic directed by Baz Luhrmann with Austin Butler, which earned eight Oscar nominations, including best film and best actor. Now, however, the film about to be released is Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, a more intimate vision that has the support of Priscilla Presley and for which Cailee Spaeny won the Volpi Cup for best actress at the Venice Festival.
Apart from a lack of audience, Deadline speculates that these last three cancellations are due to changes in Netflix’s management offices: Billy Wee is now the director of the adult animation department and all of these series had been developed by the previous team.
