‘Brave New World’ Canceled By Peacock After One Season
EXCLUSIVE: Peacock has opted not to proceed with a second season of Brave New World. UCP, the studio behind the sci-fi drama series, based on Aldous Huxley’s groundbreaking novel, will shop it to other outlets.
“There will not be Season 2 of Brave New World on Peacock,” the streamer said in a statement to Deadline. “David Wiener created a thought-provoking and cinematic adaptation. We’re grateful to the cast and crew who brought this world to life. We look forward to telling more stories with David in the future.
This marks the first major TV series cancellation since Susan Rovner joined NBCUniversal earlier this month as Chairman, Entertainment Content, overseeing programming for television and streaming.
Brave New World was part of Peacock’s inaugural original slate and the only homegrown scripted series available at launch in July. The big-budget drama did not generate a lot of buzz among critics and fans. Like most streamers, Peacock does not release performance information on its shows.
Developed by Wiener and Grant Morrison based on Huxley’s dystopian novel, Brave New World imagines a utopian society that has achieved peace and stability through the prohibition of monogamy, privacy, money, family, and history itself. As citizens of New London, Bernard Marx (Harry Lloyd) and Lenina Crowne (Jessica Brown Findlay) embark on a vacation to the Savage Lands, where they become embroiled in a harrowing and violent rebellion. Bernard and Lenina are rescued by John the Savage (Alden Ehrenreich), who escapes with them back to New London. John’s arrival in the New World soon threatens to disrupt its utopian harmony, leaving Bernard and Lenina to grapple with the repercussions.
From UCP, in association with Amblin Television, the series is executive produced by Wiener and Morrison, along with Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey, co-presidents of Amblin Television. Wiener also serves as showrunner. Owen Harris directed the first two episodes and executive produces the series.
Brave New World had a long journey to the screen. NBCUniversal’s Syfy and Amblin TV originally partnered to develop a scripted series based on Huxley’s classic in 2015. A year later, Morrison and Taylor were tapped to write the adaptation. In 2019, the project received a straight-to-series order by Syfy sibling USA Network. The series, whose Season 1 budget is said to be close to $100 million, later migrated to NBCU’s new streaming platform Peacock as its sole homegrown original scripted series at launch.
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