‘American Gods’ canceled at Starz

The premium cable network is in talks for a series of potential events or a movie to wrap up Fremantle’s troubled Neil Gaiman drama.

American gods is done at Starz.

The Lionsgate-backed premium cable network canceled Neil Gaiman’s troubled drama after three seasons. Sources say Starz is in talks with producers Fremantle for a series of potential events or a movie that would conclude the story based on Gaiman’s novel of the same name.

“American gods will not be returning for a fourth season. Everyone at Starz is grateful to the dedicated cast and crew, as well as our partners at Fremantle who brought the ever-relevant story of writer and executive producer Neil Gaiman to life who speaks about our cultural climate. country, “Starz said in a statement to Hollywood journalist Monday evening.

The decision, the sources said, was based on the drama’s terrible ratings and comes a week after the show’s season three finale. The third season – which returned in January after being on hiatus for more than a year and a half amid a pandemic and creative delays – saw ratings drop 65% on multiple platforms from the season 1.

American gods won a renewal at the start of the third season – a week after its sophomore debut – as Starz’s new executive regime, led by CEO Jeffrey Hirsch, hoped the show could find an audience despite a $ 45 drop. % of ratings between the first and second season.

As Hirsch promotes Starz as a hotbed of premium content that appeals to various women, American gods asymmetric male and white and had the lowest female makeup of any Starz series over the past two years. The show also skewed the average of Starz’s original 2020 series by 13 percentage points among black viewers.

During its three seasons, American gods got Starz into trouble. The show has had four showrunners over three seasons. Original showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green were kicked out after creative clashes with producers Fremantle, which included disputes over the series’ rapidly growing budget. (Co-stars Kristin Chenoweth and Gillian Anderson followed the showrunners out the door.) At the time, most of the season two scripts were finished. Jesse Alexander (Hannibal) was asked to run season two and was effectively sidelined amid the friction between Starz and Fremantle and as Gaiman tried to assert more control over the genre drama. (The behind-the-scenes disaster also meant season two didn’t premiere until almost two years after the first season ended.) Alexander was eventually released and Charles “Chic” Eglee (Dexter) directed the third season. (It’s also worth noting that Gaiman transferred his overall agreement from Fremantle to Amazon during production.)

Onscreen co-star Orlando Jones – who helped write midway through the troubled second season – said he was fired from the show after Eglee decided that his character Mr. Nancy, was sending the “wrong message for black America”. “[T]The new season three showrunner was born in Connecticut and educated at Yale so he’s very smart and he thinks Mr. Nancy is angry, pissing off is the wrong message for black America, ”he said. Jones said at the end of 2019. Representatives for the show said in a statement at the time that the character was just not in that part of the book and Jones’ option was not chosen. Most recently, the series ditched recurring star Marilyn Manson over allegations of abuse.

American gods had a long, difficult path to television. The adaptation was originally rolled out at HBO in 2011 with Tom Hanks’ Playtone banner attached. HBO finally passed on the drama before Starz and Fuller’s arrival in 2014. The project received a serial order the following year. Originally commissioned for 10 episodes, the series underwent several rewrites, with Fuller removing several episodes and reworking others in the first season.

American gods was one of the few scripted originals that were produced from outside studios because Starz, like other networks and streamers, wants to have a greater stake in their content. The original wiring list includes the Power franchise (with five shows and counting); P-Valley, Hightown, Run the World, Blindspotting, Step Up and Black mafia family, among others.