“The Nevers” has been canceled halfway through its first season by HBO. The Joss Whedon-created sci-fi drama will be pulled from streaming on HBO Max, along with the recently canceled HBO series “Westworld,” Variety has confirmed.
The Laura Donnelly and Ann Skelly-led “The Nevers,” which aired Part 1 of its first season in Spring 2021, was set to debut the back half of Season 1 next year on HBO. Sources close to the situation say it’s possible that the already finished batch of episodes — which were completed under new showrunner Philippa Goslett, who came on board following the exit of Whedon before the show even debuted — will air on another platform.
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“Westworld” was canceled by HBO Nov. 4, just under three months after the series aired its Season 4 finale Aug. 14.
The two shows are among multiple series that are being cut from the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned streamer’s offerings, along with “Minx” (which had already been renewed for Season 2) and “Love Life” (which had not yet been picked up for Season 3) — both of which, unlike “The Nevers” and “Westworld,” were HBO Max originals.
Created by husband-and-wife producing duo Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy and produced by J.J. Abrams, “Westworld” starred Evan Rachel Wood, Thandiwe Newton, Ed Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Luke Hemsworth, Aaron Paul, Angela Sarafyan and James Marsden. Newcomers for Season 4 included Ariana DeBose, Aurora Perrineau and Daniel Wu.
Warner Bros. Discovery has been cutting down on spending since it set out to find $3.5 billion in cost-saving synergies over the next three years post-April merger. However, even on the heels of a rough third-quarter earnings report, CEO David Zaslav has continued to underline the importance of healthy content spend, and HBO still has multiple big-budget dramas, including “House of the Dragon,” “Euphoria” and the upcoming “The Last of Us” adaptation.
The removal of shows from HBO Max means WB Discovery is able to save money in residuals paid to cast and crews of productions, on top of the money saved by not continuing with the shows at all.
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