Netflix has decided not to order a second season of its recent live-action horror series, Resident Evil, Deadline is reporting. The news comes a month-and-a-half after the show, which is loosely based on the popular video game franchise by Capcom, released its eight episodes on July 14.
Resident Evil‘s cancellation was a bit expected, as it received a mixed critical response, and didn’t have a strong showing on Netflix’s Top 10. As a result, the streaming service felt the drama’s initial viewership didn’t warrant the cost to produce another season.
The series debuted in the number 2 position on Netflix’s Top 10, as it garnered 72.7 million hours viewed. But it didn’t garner the big increase in viewership during its second week that many other new Netflix shows deliver as a result of fan discussions. The drama only garnered 73.3 million hours viewed in its second week for a number 3 finish before falling out of the Top 10 after only three weeks.
Resident Evil‘s viewership is believed not to have been higher in part because it premiered just two weeks after the final two episodes of Stranger Things‘ fourth season debuted on July 1 to critical acclaim and positive fanfare. The streaming service also garnered another critically and commercially successful genre series when it debuted its new fantasy drama, The Sandman, just three weeks after Resident Evil‘s release, on August 5.
Netflix assembled a diverse cast of performers for Resident Evil, who executives hope to work with in the future. The streaming service is already reuniting with one of the show’s actors, Paola Núñez, on a couple of other projects. He’s set to star on the upcoming horror miniseries, Fall of the House of Usher, and in the Latin American comedy film, Fuga De Reinas.
Resident Evil is set in the year 2036, 14 years after a deadly virus caused a global apocalypse. Jade Wesker (Ella Balinska) fights for survival in a world overrun by blood-thirsty, infected creatures. Jade is also haunted by her past in New Raccoon City, by her father Albert’s (Lance Reddick) connections to the Umbrella Corporation and mostly importantly, by what happened to her sister, Billie (Adeline Rudolph).
Besides Balinska, Reddick, Rudolph and Nuñez, the drama also stars Lance , Tamara Smart and Siena Agudong. Additional cast members include Ahad Raza Mir, Connor Gosatti and Turlough Convery.
Andrew Dabb served as the showrunner on the project, which he also executive produced and wrote with Mary Leah Sutton. Robert Kulzer and Oliver Berben of Constantin Film also served as executive producers on REsident Evil. Constantin Film CEO Martin Moszkowicz also served as a producer on the drama.
The live-action series was Netflix’s second entry into the Resident Evil universe. The streaming service previously aired the animate series Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness, which starred video game voice actors Nick Apostolides and Stephanie Panisello.
Besides Netflix’s two shows, the franchise also featured a live-action film series that included six entries in its original run. The movies, which were written by Paul W. S. Anderson, who also directed four installments, starred his wife, Milla Jovovich, as the infamous protagonist, Alice.
The film series was also rebooted with last year’s entry, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. The drama was written and directed by 47 Meters Down franchise scribe-helmer, Johannes Roberts.
While Resident Evil won’t be returning to Netflix for a second season, the streaming service is continuing several other of its genre shows, including Stranger Things, The Umbrella Academy, The Witcher, Black Mirror, Arcane, Shadow and Bone, Vikings: Valhalla and Sweet Tooth. Netflix is also continues its presence in the horror genre with such high-profile upcoming entries as Wednesday, The Midnight Club, The Witcher: Blood Origin, Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, 3 Body Problem, One Piece and Avatar: The Last Airbender.