Amazon Prime Video cancelled its fantasy series The Wheel of Time after the third season ended in April. According to reports at the time, the process for renewing the season or cancelling it was lengthy, but it was decided that it was better to cancel the series and move on. The thoughts were that the series cost too much, and Amazon was trying to lower costs, and this show was one of the main cuts that the service made. There was also hope, at the time of the news, that the series might find new life on another streaming service after Amazon chose to move on.
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In an interview withย Collider, The Wheel of Time star Rosamund Pike opened up about the show’s cancellation and the chances for any renewal. According to Pike, who played Moiraine Damodred in the series, there were several reasons the show encountered problems. “The fans said Season 1 wasn’t good enough, which I think I agree with, for multiple reasons,” Pike said. “We were beset by COVID in the middle of our shooting. We had some heads of department change.”
The actress then said that they knew what they were doing with a much better second season and by the third, “I think we had our wings fully spread, and we were showing where we were capable of going, and there was a really well-acted, well-written, cohesive, deep show that was attracting powerhouse actors to come and play supporting characters.” She then suggested that, if they had started in Season 1 doing what they were doing by Season 3, The Wheel of Time might not have been canceled. She said that it became a case of people wanting to find “a new show.”
That said, it sounds like Rosamund Pike has shut the door on the series, and it isn’t going to get picked up again. “In my dreams, another studio would be wise and pick it up. We have such an amazing team now. We have the ability to make a great final sequence of seasons for this show,” she said. However, she continued, “We know what to do with these books now, so who knows? But I think we have to accept that it’s over.”
The Wheel of Time Fans Have to Accept That It Is Over
Unfortunately, Rosamund Pike is right. It might be time to accept that the show won’t be coming back. Streaming is still important, but every service is cutting back on originals, and the production costs of The Wheel of Time were extraordinarily high. For shows with an established IP like The Game of Thrones or The Lord of the Rings, it makes sense. However, while The Wheel of Time is an incredibly successful novel series, it doesn’t have the media presence of those other shows.
However, it is still impressive how large the following has become, even if the Prime Video viewing numbers didn’t match up to the online demand. While the audience who watched the show had strong engagement online concerning it, the numbers altogether didn’t qualify it for a renewal from Prime Video, and the only other streaming service that could honestly do something this big is Netflix, and they have enough shows on their hands now as it is. What fans might have to understand is that they got three seasons of the series, with two of them extraordinarily good, and that might be enough for now.
Other options seem less likely. This isn’t something Disney+ would consider picking up, especially with it drastically cutting back on even big IPs like the MCU and Star Wars. HBO Max is in a state of flux right now, and nothing is for sure there. This is also not something that a regular network would likely want to put money into. If Prime Video doesn’t think that The Wheel of Time can continue on as a success, it might be time to let it rest for now and possibly revisit the idea down the line.
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