American streaming giant Netflix has some bad news for Mzansi and Queen Sono fans. Season two of the hit show will not be getting the greenlight.
In a statement released by Netflix South Africa on Monday, Nov. 30., the show will not be returning to production due to the ‘current trying times’.
“We’ve made the difficult decision not to move forward with season two of Queen Sono. Netflix is also grateful to the amazing efforts shown by the cast and crew for their stellar efforts in creating this show for our members around the world. We’ll continue working closely with South Africa’s creative industry to keep producing more compelling ‘made-in-South-Africa’ stories.
Commenting on the news, director and creator Kagiso Lediga said, “We wrote a beautiful story that spanned the continent but unfortunately could not be executed in these current trying times.”
On her part, the star of the show Pearl Thusi said, “I’m proud of the work we did, but everything happens for a reason. I am excited about what the future holds.”
There were reports earlier in the year that season two had been greenlit, something that was somewhat confirmed by Pearl when she retweeted this tweet yesterday.
“I am so proud of @PearlThusi and the entire cast and crew of @NetflixSA #QueenSono. It was renewed earlier in the year on the strength of their work in season 1. It was cancelled now because of bloody Covid. Many great shows in Hollywood have met this fate.”
I am so proud of @PearlThusi and the entire cast and crew of @NetflixSA #QueenSono. It was renewed earlier in the year on the strength of their work in season 1. It was cancelled now because of bloody Covid. Many great shows in Hollywood have met this fate.
— Miss Awori (@MissAwori) November 29, 2020
However, that was never official. It is a well known fact that Netflix often cancels shows due to performance. Such metrics are not publicly available, but it is widely thought that most Netflix shows underperform.
In any case, 2020 may have been a bad year for many industries, but not the streaming industry. When the world started working from home, people got Netflix subscriptions by the millions.
2020 has been Netflix’s best year yet, in terms of subscriber numbers and revenue.
Anyway, you can still look forward to more South African productions coming to Netflix namely: ‘How To Ruin Christmas’, JIVA!, Kings of Joburg, Riding with Sugar, and Blood & Water Season 2.
