Just six weeks after its premiere, Amazon Prime Video has canceled the sci-fi drama Night Sky. According to Deadline, the streamer made the decision based on the Chicago-made series waning audience numbers.
The sci-fi drama filmed last summer in Chicago, the south suburb of Blue Island, and Cinespace Chicago Film Studios. It was a co-production of Amazon Studios and Legendary Television.
Formally titled Lightyears, the series follows Franklin (J.K. Simmons) and Irene York (Sissy Spacek), a couple who years ago discovered a chamber buried in their backyard that inexplicably leads to a strange, deserted planet.
They’ve carefully guarded their secret, but when an enigmatic young man enters their lives, the Yorks’ quiet existence is quickly upended… and the mysterious chamber they thought they knew so well turns out to be much more than they could ever have imagined.
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The series was one of the most hotly anticipated shows of 2022 and ahead of its premiere on Prime Video, it promised to offer a gripping experience to its audience.
Writer Holden Miller had described the show to Town and Country as “sort of experiencing something incredibly momentous, but from a place that feels like it’s your own bedroom.”
Night Sky began fairly strong when it premiered on May 20. All eight episodes were released at once to generally positive reviews. That early excitement evaporated quickly as audiences found other series to watch. did not last for long, as audiences got more and more detached as the season progressed.
Reel Chicago predicted the series to be another winning series from Chicago. Even though that is not the case, Night Sky is notable for earning a place in the history books according to Collider. It is the first series from a streaming network to be distributed into outer space.
Collaborating with Amazon Web Services, SES, and Intelsat, Amazon Prime Video was able to beam the show’s first episode into space.
What’s next for the cast? Spacek will be next seen in the upcoming comedy film Sam & Kate (Le Gallo’s feature directional debut). Simmons will reprise his Zack Snyder’s Justice League role of Commissioner Jim Gordon in the upcoming DCEU film, Batgirl starring The Heights Leslie Grace.
Night Sky stands with a 73% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an audience rating of 81%.
