Actress Rosamund Pike says, “I think we have to accept that it’s over” when it comes to the possibility of a potential resurrection of the fantasy series “The Wheel of Time”.
News hit in May that the series had been cancelled, despite the third season having garnered critical acclaim with a 97% on RT and 77/100 on MC, that wa enough to make it the best-reviewed fantasy-style series on air in recent years.
Ratings-wise, it did slip slightly with most, but still hit the Nielsen streaming Top 10 and ranked as #1 on Prime Video in multiple countries. It also reportedly had big supporters within Amazon itself, but it was the economics of the show that made it too expensive to continue.
Since then, and despite fan efforts, there’s been no word on a potential pick up elsewhere (the show apparently wasn’t shopped around) and in a new interview with Collider, Pike spoke about the issues the show initially had creatively, how they found their stride and how, sadly for fans, it’s time to accept defeat:
“The fans said Season 1 wasn’t good enough, which I think I agree with, for multiple reasons. We were beset by COVID in the middle of our shooting. We had some heads of department change. Then, by Season 2, we knew what we were doing, and we offered up a much better season.
By Season 3, I think we had our wings fully spread, and we were showing where we were capable of going, and there was a really well-acted, well-written, cohesive, deep show that was attracting powerhouse actors to come and play supporting characters. I think we showed what we were capable of doing with that material.
Of course, you wonder, had we started off at that place, would we not have been cancelled? Maybe. I think we’re possibly victims to the terrible churn factor of people wanting to show that ‘We’ve got a new show.’ It’s all about what’s new.
In my dreams, another studio would be wise and pick it up. We have such an amazing team now. We have the ability to make a great final sequence of seasons for this show. We know what to do with these books now, so who knows? But I think we have to accept that it’s over.”
Following the cancellation, an online petition went up and garnered over 228,000 signatures.
