KEY POINTS
- The co-creators of Netflix’s “1899” announced that the show would not be renewed
- They admitted that the mystery thriller was supposed to run for two to three seasons
- Fans rallied to save the series by signing an online petition asking Netflix to renew it
All good things come to an end. But Netflix‘s promising sci-fi series “1899” has ended too quickly, with the streaming giant’s announcement of its cancellation this week.
On Monday, the creators of the show, Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar, broke the news on social media, saying that it’s the end of the road for the mystery thriller, which was supposed to run for around two to three seasons.
“With a heavy heart, we have to tell you that ‘1899’ will not be renewed. We would have loved to finish this incredible journey with a 2nd and 3rd season as we did with ‘Dark.’ But sometimes things don’t turn out the way you planned. That’s life,” read the joint statement shared by bo Odar on Instagram.
“We know this will disappoint millions of fans out there. But we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts that you were a part of this wonderful adventure. We love you. Never forget,” the co-creators added.
The announcement did not sit well with the avid fans of the series, who quickly flocked a Change.org petition started by Jiří Matouš, asking for Netflix to reconsider its decision and renew the show.
“‘1899’ was clearly created with multiple seasons in mind. After the first season, there are a lot of unanswered questions and a big cliffhanger at the end of the last episode. We want a renewal of the show and a proper end to the story,” Matouš wrote in his petition, which is already close to reaching its 5,000 signatures goal as of press time.
The show started as a simple period piece but quickly branched into a complicated story of mystery focused on questioning what goes beyond reality. Unfortunately, Netflix was not on board with this idea so it decided to pull the plug on the show after its freshman run, according to Vulture.
The series starred Emily Beecham, Aneurin Barnard, Miguel Bernardeau and Andreas Pietschmann, among many others. Friese and bo Odar served as showrunners and executive producers. Friese also penned the script, while bo Odar directed the show.
“1899” seemed very promising since its production took place on a newly built virtual production stage at Babelsberg Studios in Germany. It’s the largest facility for virtual production in Europe, as per Deadline.
The follow-up to the co-creators’ previous series “Dark” debuted on the streaming service on Nov. 17. It did well in its first week of availability since it managed to land the No. 2 slot on Netflix’s top 10 chart, just behind “The Crown” Season 5. It also accumulated about 79.27 million hours of viewership four days after its release, Variety reported.
