‘Shadowhunters’ To End After Season 3 With 2-Hour Finale
Shadowhunters is wrapping up for good. The popular Freeform fantasy show has been axed after just three seasons.
Coming To An Untimely End
The show is based on the popular Mortal Instruments book franchise. It will finish up early next year, with the final episodes of its third season plus a two-hour series finale. There will be 12 further installments overall to wrap up the story. The first half of season 3 finished up on May 15.
According to THR, sources close to the production claim Constantin Film lost its output deal with Netflix. Therefore, the fantasy series wasn't financially viable at the Disney-owned cable network any longer.
The streaming giant was helping to pay for the expensive series, and without its backing, a greater financial support from Freeform was required. Unfortunately, it just wasn't in the budget.
The network released a statement about the show's premature cancellation Monday.
"We are very proud of Shadowhunters, a series that broke new ground in the genre world and became a fan favorite," Freeform stated.
Happily, for longtime fans of the show, there's the feature-length finale to look forward to, which will hopefully give Shadowhunters the conclusion it deserves.
"As big supporters and fans ourselves, Freeform insisted on and championed the filming of a special two-part finale that would give devoted fans a proper ending," the statement explained.
Saying Goodbye To A Fan Favorite
Although Shadowhunters was not a massive hit for the cable network, it was a healthy performer for Disney's younger audience. Season 3 received an extra 10-episode order ahead of its debut, averaging around 500,000 same-day live viewers when it was broadcast.
Considering the second half has already been shot, Freeform green-lighted a special finale in order to give the series a proper send-off. Likewise, this allows the show to cover all of the Mortal Instruments books. The third season covers books 4 and 5, with the two-hour finale taking on the sixth and final novels.
Shadowhunters was picked up straight, with former Smallville showrunners Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer taking over after the series was initially developed for Freeform. Produced by Constantine, it is based on the hugely popular young adult fantasy book series by Cassie Clare.
Katherine McNamara takes the leading role as Clary Fray, a young woman who, upon turning 18, discovers that she's actually a human-angel hybrid known as a Shadowhunter. She is tasked with hunting down demons and keeping the world safe. Dominic Sherwood, Matthew Daddario, and Harry Shum Jr. co-star in the series.
Its other scripted series include Famous in Love, Marvel's Cloak and Dagger, and Pretty Little Liars spin-off The Perfectionist among others.
Shadowhunters became the network's strongest new scripted show when it debuted in 2016. The show will make its final bow in spring 2019.
