'The Fall of the House of Usher' Season 2: Why Netflix Isn't Making Another Season
Mike Flanagan's latest horror series is already topping the Netflix charts, but it will not return for a second season.
After bringing subscribers hit horror titles including The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass and The Midnight Club, director Mike Flanagan again struck success when his newest title, The Fall of the House of Usher, dropped on Netflix on Thursday, Oct. 12. Spanning eight episodes and taking inspiration from the works of Edgar Allan Poe, the series has not only been met with critical success, currently holding a 90% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but also has topped Netflix's streaming charts, leaving many viewers eager for more. But will The Fall of the House of Usher be renewed for a second season? Unfortunately, no.
Similar to Flanagan's previous Netflix original titles, The Fall of the House of Usher was intended to be a miniseries, one that tells a complete story in a limited number of episodes. The series, consisting of eight one-hour episodes, centers around siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher, how they built their dynasty, and how that connects to the death of Roderick's children. The series – which is based around Poe's storylines including The Black Cat, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, and The Masque of the Red Death, among others – features a complete beginning, middle, and a concrete ending, leaving no strings untied or lingering questions.
More than just The Fall of the House of Usher being a limited series – after all, The Haunting of Bly Manor marked the second season of Flanagan's The Haunting series, which transformed into an anthology upon its renewal – the series marked what is believed to be the director's final Netflix title. In December, and his Intrepid Pictures partner, Trevor Macy, signed a new exclusive, multi-year overall TV production deal with Amazon Studios, meaning they are moving on from Netflix. Under the new deal, Intrepid will develop and produce projects that will exclusively stream on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
As for what's next for Flanagan? The director acquired the rights to Stephen King's Dark Tower series, with plans to adapt the books into a TV show. Flanagan reportedly envisioned the series as a five-season TV series, followed by two stand-alone features. It was also previously announced that Flanagan would be adapting the Christopher Pike novel The Season of Passage for Universal Pictures. He is also set to adapt the Stephen King novella The Life of Chuck, with Tom Hiddleston and Mark Hamill set to star.
The Fall of the House of Usher stars Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood, Zach Gilford, Mary McDonnell, Willa Fitzgerald, Henry Thomas, Kate Siegel, Rahul Kohli, Samantha Sloyan, T'Nia Miller, Michael Trucco, Sauriyan Sapkota, Kyliegh Curran, and Mark Hamill. The series is currently streaming on Netflix alongside Flanagan's other Netflix original series – The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, and The Midnight Club.