Showtime Cancels Two Major Shows Amid Paramount+ Merger

Two Showtime series based on films were canceled on Monday as Paramount Global merges the premium cable brand with its streamer, Paramount+. Let The Right One In and American Gigolo will not get second seasons, reports Deadline. Paramount Global also passed on the already-completed Three Women, which will be shopped to other venues.

Let The Right One In was based on the 2004 Swedish vampire novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist. The book was first turned into a critically-acclaimed Swedish film in 2008. Two years later, Hollywood remade it as Let Me In, with Matt Reeves as writer and director. The series adaptation was created by Andrew Hinderaker and stared Anika Noni Rose, Frace Gummer, and Oscar-nominee Demian Bhichir.

The project began life at A&E in 2015, then moved to TNT, which ordered a pilot. That pilot was never filmed, and the project eventually moved to Showtime. The series was produced by Showtime Networks, Tomorrow Studios, Hammer Film Productions, and Colossal Productions. The 10 episodes aired between October and December 2022.

American Gigolo was based on the iconic 1980 film written and directed by Paul Schrader. It was developed by David Hollander. Jon Bernthal played the part that made Richard Gere a superstar, Julian Kaye, a male Los Angeles escort. Gretchen Mol, Lizzie Brochere, Rosie O’Donnell, Leland Orser, and Gabriel LaBelle starred in the show.

The series was not met with good reviews after its premiere in September 2022. There were also challenges behind the scenes as a misconduct investigation led to Hollander being fired and production being put on hold. Showtime ordered 10 episodes, but only eight ended up being produced. American Gigolo was produced by Paramount Television Studios, Jerry Bruckheimer Television, and Three Rivers Entertainment.

“Showtime can confirm that Let the Right One In will not move forward with a second season,” Showtime said in a statement to Variety. “We are extremely proud of this series and of the outstanding work by Demián Bichir, Madison Taylor Baez, Anika Noni Rose, our showrunner Andrew Hinderaker and his fellow executive producers, and the entire cast and crew. We would like to thank all of them and our partners at Tomorrow Studios, and we wish everyone the best going forward.”

“We can confirm that American Gigolo will not move forward with a second season on Showtime,” the network added. “We are grateful to our partners at Paramount Television Studios, the producing team, cast, and crew for their tremendous efforts to bring this series to life.”

Paramount Global plans to rebrand Showtime as “Paramount+ with Showtime,” the company announced Monday. The linear cable network will take on the new name, and Showtime content will be available on Paramount+ with a premium subscription in the U.S. Paramount Global also canceled Three Women, a new series starring Shailene Woodley, before it could air, even though the entire first season was complete.