HBO has canceled Run following its first season. Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Vicky Jones — the duo behind Fleabag and Killing Eve — created the dark comedy, but it underwhelmed HBO with its performance. The network issued a statement saying that Run would not continue on Friday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“After exploring potential ways of continuing Ruby and Billy’s journey, together with showrunner Vicky Jones, we have come to the decision that we will not be moving forward with a second season of Run,” read HBO’s statement. Run centered around college lovers Ruby (Merrit Wever) and Billy (Domhnall Gleeson), who had a pact to stop their lives and reunite if either texted the other the word “run.” Years later, they followed through.
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Run was a thriller with dark comedic undertones, with just seven episodes total. It aired from April to May on HBO and is now streaming with other HBO originals on the new service HBO Max.
Jones created Run and co-executive produced it with Waller-Bridge, though Jones held the title of showrunner on her own. The duo is known for frequent collaborations, and have recently seen a spike in stardom thanks to Waller Bridge’s Emmy-winning Fleabag and her follow-up, Killing Eve.
Sources close to the production of Run told THR that Jones was very optimistic for a second season. She reportedly continued seeking a way forward for the series right up until the end, but ultimately she could not reach an agreement with HBO or the studios.
Run ended on what some might call a cliffhanger, though audiences have been unable to decide what to make of the series. On the review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, Run has an impressive 80 percent rating among critics, but just a 47 percent score with casual viewers. Many were split on the grand finale and what it did or did not imply about a future for the show.
Some industry insiders suspected that HBO might hold onto Run as a means of staying associated with Waller-Bridge while her star is on the rise. In the fall, Waller-Bridge signed a massive overall deal with Amazon — the service where Killing Eve streamed in the U.S. — and the company locked her in for its ongoing attempts to keep a foothold in the streaming media market.
Waller-Bridge’s deal is worth $20 million per year there, according to a report by Variety. Waller-Bridge wrote the upcoming new James Bond movie, No Time to Die, but her next TV project has yet to be announced.
