‘The Expanse’ Cancelled By US Network Syfy. Producers Looking For New Home.
Another painful cancellation for geekdom. US network Syfy has dropped epic sci-fi series ‘The Expanse‘ after 3 seasons.
Set hundreds of years in the future, humans have colonized the solar system, with the U.N. controlling Earth, and Mars becoming an independent military power. The planets rely on the resources of the Asteroid Belt, where air and water are more precious than gold. For decades, tensions have been rising between these 3 places. Earth, Mars and the Belt are now on the brink of war… And all it will take is a single spark.
“The Expanse transported us across the solar system for three brilliant seasons of television,” commented Chris McCumber, President, Entertainment Networks for NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. “Everyone at Syfy is a massive fan of the series, and this was an incredibly difficult decision. We want to sincerely thank The Expanse’s amazing cast, crew and all the dedicated creatives who helped bring James S.A. Corey’s story to life. And to the series’ loyal fans, we thank you most of all.”
It seems the cancellation comes mainly due to the rights agreement Syfy has with Alcon, the creators of the show. Syfy only had first-run linear rights to the series, meaning they really needed the live viewing numbers to be high for it to work for them. For a sci-fi genre series, that is a very tough proposition as us geeks tend to watch via catch up and streaming.
All is not necessarily lost though, as Alcon are looking to shop the show around to other broadcasters. “We are very disappointed the show will not be returning to Syfy,” commented Alcon Entertainment co-founders and co-CEOs Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson. “We respect Syfy’s decision to end this partnership but given the commercial and critical success of the show, we fully plan to pursue other opportunities for this terrific and original IP.”
In our opinion, Netflix, who air ‘The Expanse‘ in the UK, would seem like a perfect home for it moving forward, but we’ll have to wait and see if a deal can be struck. We’ll let you know if we hear more news.
