EXCLUSIVE: Adieu, Étoile. Prime Video is not proceeding with a second season of Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino’s ballet drama series, Deadline has learned. The streamer and Amazon MGM Studios will continue to support the series’ Emmy campaign in the comedy categories.
In the Palladinos’ followup to their critical and commercial hit for Prime Video, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, they received a two-season initial pickup for Étoile in 2023. (Mrs. Maisel itself scored Prime Video’s first multi-year order with a two-season pickup in 2017 off a pilot. Étoile was ordered straight-to-series. )
While most multi-season orders result in multi-season runs, that is not guaranteed, and there have been exceptions. There is still an evaluation process after each season that triggers a former green light with contingencies built in. That is something Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power goes through, getting a Season 2 and, most recently a Season 3 renewal despite Amazon having an agreement with the estate of Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien for a 50-hour TV adaptation.
For Étoile, the decision not to proceed with the second season under the two-year pickup came down largely to performance vs. cost. It is not believed to be tied to the regime change at Amazon MGM Studios as the series was ordered under former head Jennifer Salke who exited in March.
A passion project for Sherman-Palladino who has a ballet background, the eight-episode Étoile follows the dancers and artistic staff of two world-renowned ballet companies in New York and Paris as they embark on an ambitious gambit to save their storied institutions by swapping their most talented stars.
The ballet setting could have been a deterrent for casual fans beyond Amy Sherman-Palladino’s loyal fan base that have followed her from The Gilmore Girls to another ballet-themed series, Bunheads, to Mrs. Maisel.
Dropped as a rare (for Prime Video) binge on April 24, Étoile didn’t chart on Nielsen’s weekly Top 10 for Originals. It also was dethroned as No.1 on Prime Video’s own Top 10 after a week or so by Reacher, which had not released original episodes since March. Étoile soon left the Top 10 altogether where The Wheel of Time, which was recently canceled by Prime Video, still has a presence almost two months after its Season 3 finale.
Living up to its ambitious premise, Étoile is expensive to make. It films in New York and Paris using iconic historic buildings as backdrop. The series also created its own ballet company comprised by top dancers from around the world and involves elaborate dance sequences.
Additionally, while well reviewed (85% on Rotten Tomatoes), Étoile has not enjoyed the universal acclaim of predecessor The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and it has not generated strong buzz on social media.
But it has re-started a conversation about the future of the arts. Born out of the pandemic, which shut down theaters, Étoile is love letter to ballet and the dance community and urges people to do their part in keeping arts alive.
Étoile‘s cancellation leaves the series open-ended as the Season 1 finale set up multiple storylines, including a romantic entanglement among several characters brought upon by Jack (Luke Kirby) and Cheyenne’s (Lou de Laâge) kiss at the very end of the episode.
The cast of Étoile includes Mrs. Maisel alums Kirby and Gideon Glick, Charlotte Gainsbourg, de Laâge in her first English-speaking role, David Alvarez, Ivan du Pontavice, Taïs Vinolo, David Haig, LaMay Zhang, and Simon Callow. Gilmore Girls‘ Yanic Truesdale was a recurring guest, with Gilmore Girls and Bunheads’ Kelly Bishop also making appearances.
From Amazon MGM Studios, Étoile was executive produced by Amy Sherman-Palladino, Daniel Palladino, and Dhana Rivera Gilbert. Scott Ellis served as co-executive producer.
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