Massively renowned and sought after sci-fi series Altered Carbon gets an axe from globally famous streaming service Netflix, after its two successful seasons. The hard-hitting decision has been taken by the platform as outlooks on Altered Carbon failed to satisfy Netflix’s cost in terms of viewership ratio. Hence, the series will not be renewed for a third season, marking the end of a high-budget Netflix original adaptation.
Previously, Netflix pulled the plugs on two much-celebrated web-series, “The Society” and “I Am Not Okay With This” both of which had been renewed for second seasons. The shows got cancelled in the light of budgetary issues surrounding increased health and safety costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with Altered Carbon, the case is quite different. Netflix announced to scarp the high-budget cyberpunk series Altered Carbon, back in April as the show failed to qualify the platform’s costs renewal versus viewership policy.
About Altered Carbon
Altered Carbon, adopted from Richard K. Morgan’s novel of same name was created by Laeta Kalogridis under the banner of Skydance television. At Netflix, the company also has long-running comedy Grace and Frankie that has garnered critical acclaim from the audience.
Mind-twisting and body-swapping Netflix original web series Altered Carbon took place in high-tech world, about 300 years into the future. The series depicted perplexing life story of interstellar warrior Takeshi Kovacs, who is the only surviving soldier of this new-order world.
In this modernized civilization, where human bodies are interchangeable and death is no longer permanent, Kovacs had to solve a murder mystery, in order to be resurrected and reunited with his love of life.
The character of Kovacs was brought to life by Joel Kinnaman in Season 1, followed by Anthony Mackie in Season 2. Moreover, Season 2 of the series also starred Renée Elise Goldsberry, Lela Loren, Simone Missick, Chris Conner, Dina Shihabi and Torben Liebrecht alongside Mackie.
Altered Carbon was released in 2018 and garnered dedicated fan-base back then. Hence the TV show was immediately approved for a second season by Netflix. However, the second part of this scientific screenplay, which was premiered earlier this year, collected much declined ratings. Therefore, Netflix decided to call it off for the series.
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Reason why Netflix cancels TV shows
Netflix, the worldwide digital web is always working on its entertainment projects, bringing out the cream of cream for its users. The platform is always focused on viewership records, keeping an eagle eye on the screenplay’s ratings. Lately, the streamer had been extending its original content library. Therefore, many misfortunate TV shows that failed to bring in viewers got kicked out from the platform.
Furthermore, Netflix is no more the only king on entertainment sites, as its competitor forums like Disney+, Hulu and Amazon Prime etc. are quickly surfacing. These digital sites are continuously investing in their own platforms; hence Netflix had been losing key licensing deals for shows like FRIENDS etc. that once kept people around. As a result, the site is paying more attention to its original content rather than the adopted ones. But the more original shows Netflix permits, the more likely it is to cancel those that don’t perform well. If a series is able to retain high-population of subscribers, despite any circumstances, it gets renewed. If it can’t, it’s probably gets cancelled.
Some of the highly notable TV shows that got cancelled by Netflix prior to Altered Carbon are Stranger Things, Criminal minds, Arrow, Dear White People, V-Wars, Insatiable and Bojack Horseman to name a few.
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