‘The Expanse’ Is Saved After Jeff Bezos Makes Surprise Announcement Amazon Will Pick Up Fourth Season
It looks like the movement to save The Expanse has paid off, even with the Change.org petition requesting that Amazon or Netflix pick up the space drama still short of little more than 10,000 signatures. And it’s going to be the former network that will be picking up the series for its fourth season, as announced Friday by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and by show producers Alcon Entertainment.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the announcement was made at a National Space Society panel in Los Angeles, as Bezos, who is a known fan of the books the series is based on, confirmed that his company, Amazon, had successfully hammered out a deal to air The Expanse’s fourth season.
“I just got word that The Expanse was saved,” said Bezos, addressing the crowd in attendance.
Separately, Alcon Entertainment co-founders and co-CEOs Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson issued their own statement, thanking Bezos, Amazon Studios head Jen Salke, and other movers and shakers behind the scenes for saving The Expanse.
“We also want to thank Laura Lancaster, head of Alcon Television for her tireless efforts. We are fully aware that this wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for the staggering outpouring of support from the most creative, hardest working sci-fi fans around the world. From Reddit campaigns to airplanes, we say thank you. It worked!”
RT TheLiveFeed: 'The Expanse' Officially Revived for Season 4 at Amazon https://t.co/Sw3JO1yL04
— ????? (@abbear111) May 26, 2018
The Expanse, which is based on the book series of the same name written by authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck under the common pen name James S.A. Corey, takes place in a futuristic timeline with a solar system colonized by humans, as the crew of the spaceship Rocinante is caught in the middle of conflicts between Earth and other planets. As further noted by The Verge, the show’s most recent episode had hinted at bigger things to come through a new story arc, just a few weeks after Syfy announced it would be cancelling the series after three seasons. The Inquisitr also wrote that The Expanse reached record high ratings in the two weeks since its cancellation was announced, thanks in no small part to fan campaigns to help the series find a new home.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Jeff Bezos and Amazon’s decision to save The Expanse will put the series in good company with other “genre programming” offerings that include comedian and Get Out director Jordan Peele’s Nazi-hunting drama series The Hunt, the upcoming Lord of the Rings TV series, and the futuristic drama The Peripheral. Furthermore, Amazon’s move also marks the latest example of canceled shows getting a new lease on life thanks to a new network, as Brooklyn Nine-Nine recently moved from Fox to NBC, and Last Man Standing moved from ABC to Fox.
