Amazon Studios canceled The Wilds after two seasons.
According to multiple outlets, including Deadline (Opens in a new tab) and Variety (Opens in a new tab), Amazon has pulled the popular Prime Video show less than three months after the release of its second season. Deadline suggests that the show's main cast members weren't notified of the decision until Thursday, July 28. However, at the time of this writing, the main cast members have yet to publicly comment on the matter.
The news of The Wilds cancellation is sure to disappoint fans of the Young Adult (YA) survival drama series. The Prime Video production is one of the highest-rated original series on Amazon's streaming platform, with its first season earning a new certified rating of 92% (opens in a new tab) on Amazon's website, the aggregator of Rotten Tomatoes reviews. Meanwhile, The Wilds season 2 has done just as well; the latest episode of the show with a rating of 85% on the same website (opens in a new tab). On IMDb.com (opens in a new tab), The Wilds has an average rating of 7.2 out of 10 from nearly 20,000 user reviews.
No official reason was given for the show's cancellation, but Deadline claims that the subdued reaction to The Wilds' second season led to its downfall. The series received critical acclaim when it launched its first season in December 2020, with its Lost Meets Castaway-style narrative and excellent cast helping to attract newcomers to Amazon's streaming service.
However, with similarly positioned YA series like the hit show Yellowjackets starting to get into their turf, coupled with the pandemic-induced release date delay, it seems The Wilds didn't have the tools to make a raft. lifebuoy to keep it afloat.
We've reached out to Amazon Studios for official comment on The Wilds cancellation and will update this article if we hear back.
Analysis: Adrift on the High Seas
The cancellation of The Wilds is a pivotal moment in the history of Amazon Studios.
The series was the first young adult project to launch on Prime Video and, thanks to its relative success, paved the way for other YA shows to roll off Amazon's production line. Panic, Amazon's failed remake of I Know What You Did Last Summer, Alex Rider, and The Summer I Got Pretty owe their existence to The Wilds, who paved the way for these series to see the light of day.
As Amazon brings the curtain down on The Wilds, it's sending one of its groundbreaking shows into the streaming history books, and some industry insiders and fans may see this as a watershed moment for Prime Video.
How? Well, Amazon isn't exactly moving away from YA-powered series, but it's certainly leaning more toward more popular and profitable genres.
For one thing, Amazon continues to expand its original superhero offerings to its subscriber base. The Boys Season 4, as well as a live-action spin-off series, are in the works. Invincible Season 2 is currently in development, while a new Samaritan original movie is set to premiere in late August.
Meanwhile, Amazon is pushing harder into fantasy genre territory. A second season of The Wheel of Time is on the way, while a third season was announced at Comic-Con 2022. Carnival Row, Prime Video's first original fantasy series, will also have a second finale at some point. Oh, and there's a little-known show called The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, the most expensive TV series ever made, coming exclusively to Prime Video on September 2.
Of course, there will always be an audience for YA content on Prime Video, so Amazon is likely to continue commissioning projects of this nature, as long as they're interesting enough. But there's no question that the studio is pouring money into more popular genres with bigger fanbases, which could be a dangerous move.
Amazon will not want to alienate its young adult/teen audience by not providing content specifically targeted to this demographic. If so, those viewers may be ditching it, similar to how Amazon ditched The Wilds, for other streamers, like Netflix, whose YA back catalog includes hit shows like Shadow and Bone, Riverdale and Heartstopper. Time will tell if canceling The Wilds was the right decision or not.
For more Prime Video-based content, check out the platform's new user-friendly interface or read about a new feature Prime Video just added, one that Netflix has yet to implement.
Today's best Amazon Prime deals
(opens in a new tab) (opens in a new tab) (opens in a new tab)
(opens in a new tab)