If you haven’t heard HBO has officially canceled Misha Green’s LOVECRAFT COUNTRY after just one season. Say, what? Was not that show an acclaimed and much appreciated piece of work? Did it not offer meaningful social commentary alongside a good dose of drama & horror that generated great buzz? Well, apparently that doesn’t matter if there just isn’t any solid direction to move in going forward.
HBO offered the simple statement – “We will not be moving forward with a second season of Lovecraft Country. We are grateful for the dedication and artistry of the gifted cast and crew, and to Misha Green, who crafted this groundbreaking series. And to the fans, thank you for joining us on this journey.”
If you recall the series was based on the Matt Ruff novel of the same name. It was that source material that served as a Bible for the 10-episode series for Bad Robot Productions and HBO subscribers got to see those pages brought to cinematic life with Jurnee Smollett, Jonathan Majors, Courtney B. Vance, Michael Kenneth Williams and others embodying the characters. But in going forward, there would be no Bible to guide & shape future tales. We all know how many felt GAME OF THRONES flamed out once-solid source material was used up. In this case, Misha Green would have been working from a clean slate.
It has been admitted that Misha Green had slowly begun the process of developing a second season. HBO even commented earlier this year that she was doing just that. Casey Bloys stated, “Misha is working with a small team of writers and they’re coming up with a take. She had a book to go on in the first season. She and the writers wanted to go off and take some time to go out and figure out without a book with these characters, what’s the journey we want to go on. We all want to be sure she’s got a story to tell. That’s where she is right now, working on those ideas. I’m very hopeful, as is Misha, so we’re giving them the time to work.” Here is a hint of what was some of Green’s plans.
Apparently for HBO, at the end of the day, felt that the scatterings of ideas did not add up to something strong enough to turn into a solid, believable continuation of the story; Thus, HBO has put a halt to the series. Think about it though, why taint a good story with a weak continuation just for the sake of riding on the coattails of a strong start. Why present a weak concept just to appease a fanbase? It was a tough call for sure but HBO was not convinced that a solid enough concept was not in place to move the work forward.
We have a one-and-done season of LOVECRAFT COUNTRY to enjoy and we have to settle for that like we have to settle for one season of WATCHMEN, THE BRINK, JOHN FROM CINCINNATI and VINYL. Unless, Matt Ruff writes a sequel and/or Green toils hard in crafting a return, but don’t hold your breath.
(Source:Deadline)
3 comments
I was surprised by this news. I wonder if COVID had something to do with it.
I am sure it did; it bogged down the whole progress. With the streaming wars in full motion, the instant turnaround of the product is what is ideal. Churn it out as fast as you can to beat the competition and before audiences forget it. The delay distanced the audience from the content.
However, HBO should know that you can’t rush good quality. It has sacrificed it before just to get the product out that much faster (I won’t mention any specific titles).
They could have waited longer to curate something good, but the timeframe wasn’t satisfactory enough. So, LOVECRAFT COUNTRY was canceled.
Thanks for sharing your insights into what went on behind the scenes. I think you are completely right.