Disney+ Cancels 'The Right Stuff' After Just One Season

Disney+ canceled The Right Stuff, a series adaptation of Tom Wolfe's book about the Mercury Seven astronauts and the early days of NASA. The series originated at National Geographic before Disney moved the project to Disney+, making it the second original live-action series on the streaming service following The Mandalorian. Warner Bros. Television, the studio behind the series, is already shopping the project to other platforms, reports Deadline.

Although the cast's contract options expire on Saturday, Warner Bros. TV has asked for a two-week extension while its search for a new home is ongoing. One reason the studio wants to keep the show going is because of a tax incentive. Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way, which produces the show, received $13.7 million to move the production from Florida to California for its second season.

Disney+ and Warner Bros. TV held lengthy talks on The Right Stuff's future, Deadline reports. They considered either continuing the show's Season 1 storyline or moving the show to the 1980s with an all-new cast. Warner Bros. TV is still considering these two options for Season 2. Although Disney has never released audience data for Disney+, it is thought to be a "modest performer" for the platform. One possible new home for the show could be either TNT or HBO Max, both sister entities of Warner Bros. TV.

Like the 1983 movie adaptation of The Right Stuff, the series followed the original Mercury Seven astronauts during the early days of the American space program. Patrick J. Adams (Suits) starred as John Glenn while Jake McDorman (Limitless) starred as Alan Shepard. Colin O'Donoghue (Once Upon a Time) played Gordon Cooper. The series began in 1959 and ran eight episodes. DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson served as executive producers and Mark Lafferty was showrunner.

The Right Stuff is the first live-action show to get canceled on Disney+, although Disney notably canceled one show before it even aired. Back in August 2019, before Disney+ even launched, the company pulled the plug on Book of Enchantment, a series based on Serena Valentino's popular books about Disney villains. The show was reportedly in deep development before Disney decided the creative direction of the project was not going where it wanted it to. Similarly, Disney also ended plans for a Lizzie McGuire revival last year, with star Hilary Duff suggesting she wanted the story to be a little more realistic than Disney hoped for.