The cancellation of ‘1899’ could be a huge Netflix mistake

The notice of cancellation from 1899 It has taken a good part of the fans by surprise. Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar’s production became a hit with subscribers. In addition to one of the most commented series of the year 2022.

According to Netflix figures, the series has been viewed for 257 million hours in total, a figure with which the same platform recognized its impact. So the cancellation of 1899 and its abrupt end leave some questions about the subscription service’s selection methods about the permanence of its content.

whatwhy cancel 1899 just two months after its release and still without its importance being able to be analyzed in all its extension? The other big question that its abrupt end raises is whether the series really needed new chapters to tell its story.

According to Friese and Odar, the story required three seasons to complete. Even so, its open ending and with most of the plot questions answered could be taken as a satisfying conclusion. Was this last aspect decisive for a decision that, at first glance, seems hasty?

the hard path of 1899 until its cancellation

Really, 1899 it became difficult to classify content. Despite its enigmatic story, elegant staging, and strong script, the series divided critics and audiences alike. Considered slow and difficult to understand by some and a piece of art of sophisticated mystery by others, it had to compete with the long shadow of Dark.

But also with a circumstance that marked his future. The series was expected to have an immediate impact and its impact was moderate. Something that could hasten the cancellation of 1899. The German production needed to justify the colossal investment made on set. Its very high production cost put the series in the middle of the need to be a large-scale success. One with such relevance as to justify the investment of $62.2 million dollars in its filming.

1899 She had to go through the pandemic break, which forced her to rethink how to film her sequences at sea. In the end, the production team created a contrived stage for maritime scenes. Most of the episodes were recorded in a virtual facility called Volume, using state-of-the-art technology. Which decisively increased their costs.

Between popularity and cost

So that 1899 it needed to not only be a success in terms of hours of transmission. Also becoming a series with such a considerable impact as to combine a robust audience with off-screen success. But, released a week before Wednesdayproduced by Tim Burton, 1899 almost immediately had to compete with the popularity of a resounding title. A circumstance that ended up turning the German series into a discreet story without much weight in the Netflix catalog.

Was this combination of situations decisive for the cancellation of 1899? netflix not going through the best of moments financial. After some aggressive strategies that didn’t have the necessary impact, the service may be looking at its scheduling options. One of them, only renew content capable of sustaining the possibility of a new important success. The Serie 1899with its story that progressively reveals its secrets and demands patience from the viewer, might not be the natural choice for such a tactic.

The cancellation of 1899 with a scandal you lay down

The series had to face accusations of plagiarism in the middle of a premiere that did not have the immediate effect of captivating the public. via Twitter, the Brazilian author Mary Cagnin accused the creators of using a comic of her own in the history. The thread immediately went viral and, while unproven, caused considerable controversy. So much so that even the creators of the series responded on their personal Instagram accounts.

Could the scandal on social platforms affect the popularity and subsequent cancellation of 1899? Actually, the issue of intellectual property theft never reached legal ground. But, despite that, it could have had weight in the public’s loss of interest around the production.

Although the series was among the top ten most-watched shows globally on the platform, it soon waned and disappeared from the charts. Less than two months after its premiere, the German series had become a low-key hit on the Netflix catalog.

1899 leaves some unknowns in the inkwell

But there is another big question that is also obvious. Did the series need a second season? With a open ended, but in some solid way, the argument answered most of your questions. Which could also have sentenced a possible second season and had an impact on the cancellation of 1899.

After all, the questions about the simulations, their creator and the very reason for the existence of the phenomenon were answered. Which, of course, leads one to question whether Netflix could invest in a continuation that is limited to delving into the universe proposed by the creators.

1899, with all his enigmatic air, ended up not finding a clear meaning of his future. Could the story have more appeal with more data to support its central narrative? Could the answer to the great mystery of so many parallel realities underpin its solidity? Apparently, the production had shown its best resources, which could have precipitated the cancellation of 1899 by Netflix.