‘The Expanse’ Officially Rescued By Amazon for a Fourth Season [Updated]

UPDATE: Alcon Entertainment co-founders and co-CEOs Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson have issued a statement, confirming that Amazon is picking up the show: “We couldn’t be more excited that The Expanse is going to continue on Amazon Prime! We are deeply grateful that Jeff Bezos, Jen Salke, and their team at Amazon have shown such faith in our show.”

Our original story from May 22, 2018 follows below.

Amazon Studios is poised to rescue The Expanse after Syfy cancelled the beloved science-fiction show just 10 days ago. But fan outcry — and business-savvy producers — may have saved yet another show that was a victim of this year’s merciless cancellation axe.

Amazon Studios is in talks to revive The Expanse season 4, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Expanse is reportedly one of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ favorite shows.

The Expanse debuted to critical acclaim in 2015 and, over the course of its three seasons, accumulated an ardent and loyal fanbase who extolled the virtues of the series, which is set in a future where humanity has colonized the solar system. The series is based on James S. A. Corey‘s best-selling book series and stars Steven Strait, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Dominique Tipper.

“The Expanse transported us across the solar system for three brilliant seasons of television. Everyone at Syfy is a massive fan of the series, and this was an incredibly difficult decision,” said Chris McCumber, president of entertainment networks at NBCU Cable Entertainment. “We want to sincerely thank The Expanse’s amazing cast, crew and all the dedicated creatives who helped bring James S. A. Corey’s story to life. And to the series’ loyal fans, we thank you most of all.”

But the series was a pricey investment for Syfy. Syfy had only first-run linear rights in the U.S. to The Expanse and not SVOD or international rights. Not to mention the middling ratings that The Expanse pulled in — matching the returns of Syfy’s inexpensive co-productions like Dark Matter and Killjoys versus the cabler’s original scripted series like The Magicians and Happy.

Ultimately, Syfy decided to axe The Expanse and lean back on its otherwise packed roster, which includes the upcoming George R.R. Martin drama Nightflyers, The Purge, Deadly Class, Krypton, The Magicians, Channel Zero, Van Helsing, Wynonna Earp and Killjoys, with the latter set to wrap in 2019.

But thankfully, it looks like Amazon Studios has come to the rescue. After the show’s cancellation by Syfy, The Expanse‘s producers Alcon Television Group planned to shop the space drama to other networks. And it seems like Amazon has taken the bite.

Amazon Studios already had streaming rights to the first three seasons of the show. THR reports Bezos was a big fan of the books and was livid that the TV series went to NBCUniversal-owned Syfy. The streaming service is still reportedly looking for its own version of Game of Thrones, and Bezos is reportedly eyeing The Expanse to fill that gap. (And Lord of the Rings.)

Here is the official synopsis for The Expanse:

Hundreds of years in the future, things are different than what we are used to after humans have colonized the solar system and Mars has become an independent military power. Rising tensions between Earth and Mars have put them on the brink of war. Against this backdrop, a hardened detective and a rogue ship’s captain come together to investigate the case of a missing young woman. The investigation leads them on a race across the solar system that could expose the greatest conspiracy in human history.

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