Netflix Swings The Cancellation Ax In The Direction Of Deserting Creator Mike Flanagan
Mike Flanagan certainly took his time and effort on Netflix and built up quite the reputation for creative scares and horror. Known for series like "The Haunting of Hill House," "The Haunting of Bly Manor," and "Midnight Mass," Flanagan has a reputation for well-thought-out and terrifying entertainment that doesn't rely on jump scares like so much of contemporary horror. As reported by IMDb, Flanagan has reaped 35 awards for his aplomb, winning awards like "Best Screenplay," "Best Horror Film," and "Best Director" from a variety of esteemed horror competitions. In other words, Flanagan certainly knows what he is doing in his chosen field.
Speaking with the New York Times in 2021, Flanagan spoke about his inspiration for his Netflix limited series, "Midnight Mass," and said, "When you're talking about the afterlife and the soul, you're talking about ghosts. We can't help but be attracted to the idea that death isn't the end for us, and that we're going to see the people we've lost again." He continued, "That idea is one of the things that interested me in horror in the first place, and is as much behind our religions as it is behind our horror fiction." Unfortunately, it looks like Flanagan's first true television series "The Midnight Club," unlike his limited mini-series and movies, will not be continuing — at least not at Netflix.
Flanagan's recent business deal may have sealed the fate of The Midnight Club
Recently, Mike Flanagan and his producer Trevor Macy received an exceptionally lucrative offer from Amazon, which grants Amazon exclusive streaming rights to a bevy of upcoming creative projects from the pair and their studio Intrepid Pictures. However, this action on the behalf of Flanagan may have had the unintended consequence of earning the ire and wrath of Netflix, who has promptly canceled "The Midnight Club" after just one season, according to Deadline. This is most unfortunate, considering that "The Midnight Club" ended on somewhat of a cliffhanger. Of course, the decision to cancel the show could be completely unrelated to Flanagan's departure, but we'll likely never know for sure.
In October, Flanagan spoke with Men's Health about his shift to Netflix and making long-form horror television series with an intention of multiple seasons, and said that he appreciates the given time to develop characters. He then clarified, "That said, it's much, much harder to sustain tension over a long period of time. So horror is really tough on TV. You can't keep that foot on someone's throat the way you do in a movie where you can have this suffocating, cool, adrenalizing tension but it dissipates in 90 minutes or two hours, right? Drawing it out for 10 [hours] is really tough. People get exhausted. So you have to be engaging them on other levels."
On the bright side, at least fans of Flanagan will still see his new horror-based efforts, although they will probably be on Amazon Prime.