‘Magic City’ Canceled After Two Seasons

Magic City has been canceled by Starz after two seasons.

The second season premiered on June 14, and the series finale airs August 9.

The drama, set in 1959 Miami shortly after the Cuban revolution, stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Ike Evans, the owner of the glamorous Miramar Playa hotel. Ike is forced to make a deal with mob boss Ben Diamond (Danny Huston) to secure the hotel’s continued success.

The series also stars Olga Kurylenko as Vera Evans, Ike’s second wife, and stepmother to his three children.

Starz previewed the pilot on March 30, and it premiered on April 6. The network renewed the series for a 10-episode second season on March 20. Starz CEO Chris Albrecht said the series was “beautifully written” and the network felt the “quality of the work accomplished deserved a second season.”

Unfortunately, despite promoting a James Caan story arc for season two, Magic City failed to attract a larger audience. The fourth episode of season two drew a series high of 0.52 million viewers, but the viewership dropped to 0.34 and 0.44 million for the next two episodes.

The Kelsey Grammar political drama Boss suffered a similar fate the year before. Like Magic City, Boss was renewed for a 10-episode second season before the first even premiered. But even though the series was nominated for two Golden Globes, with Grammar taking home the award for Best Actor, Boss also failed to draw an audience. The series finale drew only 0.44 million. A film is being discussed to finish the storyline.

Starz said in a statement Monday, “Magic City will be concluding its two-season run on Starz with Friday’s series finale. We are tremendously proud of the series and everyone involved. From the writers, to the cast and crew, it has been an incredible collaboration.”

Are you surprised that Magic City has been canceled?