Originally published January 6, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
Chris Carter’s The After is no longer being pursued at Amazon Studios. The company dropped the series, according to Variety, providing little information as to the sudden change of direction. “We have decided to not move forward with ‘The After,’ ” said Amazon Studios VP Roy Price. “We would like to thank Chris Carter, the phenomenal cast, crew and producers for all their efforts.”
The pilot for The After was produced last year, featured a fairly large ensemble cast including Jamie Kennedy, Adrian Pasdar, Sharon Lawrence, Arielle Kebbel, Aldis Hodge, Andrew Howard, Louise Monot, Sam Littlefield, and Jaina Lee Ortiz and was subsequently released on Amazon Prime the following February. The then-hopeful drama series centered on eight strangers brought together by mysterious forces, who must rely upon one another to survive in a violent world that defies explanation.
Amazon Studios began creating original content two year ago and and has since launched several critically and commercially successful comedies including the Jeffrey Tambor-led Transparent, Betas (which ended far too soon) and Alpha House starring John Goodman and Matt Malloy, which released its second season last October. The jury is still out on the newly released Mozart In The Jungle, created by Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman and Alex Timbers, but internet talk on the show has generally been quite good.
While Amazon has proven successful in the realm of comedy, they have yet to nail down a solid drama, which makes the cancellation of The After even more difficult. They do, however, currently have two drama series’ in production now that hopefully can turn things around. Hand Of God, starring Ron Perlman and Dana Delany, follows a morally-corrupt judge who believes God is urging him to play vigilante and Bosch, starring Titus Welliver and based on the best-selling book series by Michael Connelly, which centers on an LAPD detective trying to solve the murder of a 13-year old boy while standing trial for the murder of a serial killer. There are also a handful of other dramas on Amazon’s development slate, promising pilots in the near future.
The cancellation of The After is rough not only for Amazon but also for Carter who has had a difficult time trying to make a return to television. About two years ago, the X-Files creator attempted to launch a female-led, revenge mystery series called Unique, but that project was also brought to a stand still.
William Fanelli is a regular contributor to Flickering Myth – You can follow him on Twitter
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