Netflix has chosen to pull the plug on Lockwood & Co.
According to Variety, Attack the Block director Joe Cornish’s series will not be returning for a second season. Based on Jonathan Stroud’s popular YA series. The series premiered in January and starred Ruby Stokes, Ali Hadji-Heshmati and Cameron Chapman as a trio of teenage supernatural investigators. Aside from getting good reviews, it also seemed to be quite popular. The film stayed in Netflix’s global top 10 list for almost a month, clocking up 79.91 million hours of viewership. However, according to the broadcaster, those numbers weren’t enough to give the green light for a second season, even though Netflix was said to be “very happy” with the series’ outcome.
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Production company Complete Fiction (founded by Cornish, Edgar Wright and Rachael Prior) issued a statement following the cancellation. “It was an honor and a privilege that the extremely talented Jonathan Stroud was chosen to adapt his outstanding book series,” the statement said. “Doing this show was one of the most rewarding experiences of our career and one we will remember forever.”
The statement ends with a salute to the show’s audience, aka Lock Nation: “You guys really were the greatest. We can’t thank you enough for how much you embraced, celebrated and loved the show. […] This may be the end of the TV show, but the books live on, as do the friendships that were formed. We encourage you to embrace both.”
Likewise, Stroud called the show on Instagram “an absolutely brilliant show that Complete Fiction and Netflix have made.” And not just brilliant, but hugely popular around the world.” He referenced the streamer’s place in the global top 10 and described the performance of the Show cheekily as “not bad for a small start-up agency”. He ended his post by thanking the show’s audience, saying “thank you so much for your love, generosity and dedication.”
Netflix cancellations are nothing new, and Lockwood & Co. has followed a string of cancellations over the past few weeks. Whether it’s because of the writers’ strike or low viewership, shows like National Treasure: Edge of History, The Winchesters, and Fantasy Island have been pulled from circulation. While some of these key creatives (like “The Winchesters” Jensen Ackles) are working on moving their show to another location, others are not able to do so and will move on once the decision is made.
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