You might want to hold on to your current body for a while: Netflix has cancelled Altered Carbon.
Altered Carbon was based on a book by Richard K. Morgan and adapted for television by Laeta Kalogridis. Season 1 starred Joel Kinnaman as Takeshi Kovacs, and in Season 2 the same character was played by Anthony Mackie, with Alison Schapker taking over as showrunner. The series also spawned one anime movie. As Deadline reports, the decision to axe it wasn’t coronavirus related and was made back in April.
The cyberpunk epic has fallen victim to Netflix’s notorious standard viewership vs. cost renewal review. Here, the main issue seems to be the cost; as Kinnaman once said, it was “a world that’s got a bigger budget than the first three seasons of Game of Thrones.” Even healthy-sized audiences can’t support a budget buster like that indefinitely, and Takeshi Kovacs never captured the popular imagination in the same way as Jon Snow or Daenerys Targaryen. For that reason, the futuristic show is now history.
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Altered Carbon joins other seeming-hits to get cancelled by Netflix, including the Wachowski’s Sense8, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and Mindhunter.
Editor’s Note: Stay safe by picking up one of our custom face masks. A portion of the proceeds will benefit MusiCares’ COVID-19 Artist Relief fund supporting independent musicians.
