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1899, a perplexing mystery thriller on Netflix, has been canceled after one season. In an Instagram post, the show’s co-creators Baran bo Odar and Jantje Freise stated that the ambitious multilingual series will no longer be continuing on its narrative, frustrating viewers who had been waiting and speculating about the show’s numerous unresolved mysteries. While the duo never explicitly stated the cause for the cancellation, their statement suggests that Netflix wasn’t on board with their ideas for seasons two and three, ultimately resulting in the cancellation of the project.
The announcement states, “With a heavy heart, we must inform you that ‘1899’ will not be renewed.” “We would have liked to conclude this extraordinary adventure with a second and third season, as we did with ‘Dark.'” But occasionally things do not go according to plan. “Such is life.” The creators, who rose to notoriety with the German science fiction series Dark, thanked fans for their support before concluding their remarks. Given the show’s immense popularity, it’s strange that Netflix would make this decision. In its first week of release, which began on November 17, 2022, the show earned 79.27 million hours of watch time, placing it in second place behind The Crown season 5. The next week, 1899 replaced the British monarchy drama in second place, handily trailing Jenna Ortega’s record-breaking Wednesday.
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As a non-connected sequel to Odar and Freise’s Dark, 1899 centered on a group of European emigrants traveling to a new continent in the hopes of starting new lives. Their journey takes a horrifying turn when they encounter another migrant ship, the Prometheus, which pits the passengers against a series of mysterious events. Last year, the creators disclosed to The Hollywood Reporter that they had already mapped out the course of the series for its last two seasons. “We always like to have a conclusion in mind before we begin. We wish to know our destination. “We’re progressing through a story, and we want to know how it ends,” Freise stated in the interview.
As a means of representing different European cultures, the ensemble cast of the eight-episode series spoke in twelve distinct languages. 1899 was also the first television series after The Mandalorian to use the new LED Volume technology to construct visual sets, which relied on enormous digital screens instead of a green/blue screen for the background. In order to create a continuity effect when rotating between cameras between characters, the Star Wars show crew would shoot in one direction on the first day, then in the other direction on the second day. In 1899, however, the crew simply placed the screens on a turntable, allowing them to easily rotate the display.
Currently, all eight episodes of 1899 are available on Netflix. The studio has provided no explanation for the cancellation.
