Jeff Bezos personally announced that Amazon saved 'The Expanse' and the crowd went wild
Another day, another streaming service swooping in to rescue a TV series that couldn't cut it on cable.
For weeks, fans of Syfy's The Expanse have been held in suspense over the show's abrupt cancellation and subsequent hints of a pickup, a la Brooklyn Nine-Nine. That suspense is now at an end, thanks to Jeff Bezos.
The Amazon founder and CEO summed up the situation succinctly during an appearance at the International Space Development Conference: "The Expanse is saved." The watching crowd, which included multiple members of the show's cast, erupted with cheers immediately.
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Alcon Entertainment, the production company behind the series, released a statement from the company's two co-founders: "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."
In a subsequent tweet, Alcon also thanked Laura Lancaster, who heads up the company's TV division.
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Now three seasons deep (and counting, thanks to Amazon), The Expanse is based on a series of sci-fi novels by James S.A. Corey, a pen name used by co-writers Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. It's set in a future where our solar system has been colonized, and the splintering of humanity across different planets (and non-planets) has created a unique set of socio-political tensions.
The show has won wide critical acclaim for its smart, relevant writing, but that acclaim hasn't ever translated into a huge audience.
Ratings aren't everything, of course, but there's a business side to Syfy's cancellation as well. The cable network has limited ownership of the series, with no stake in the streaming rights. That places the emphasis in Syfy's investment on live broadcasts.
The fact that Alcon retains ownership of The Expanse is also a big reason why the show will be allowed to live on. When Syfy moved to cancel, Alcon was then able to shop the series around in search of a new home. Fans responded with a hashtag (#savetheexpanse), a widely circulated Change.org petition, and a GoFundMe campaign to pay for an airplane banner.
The show's Amazon pickup had been rumored -- Bezos is reportedly a big fan -- but now it's official.
Topics Amazon
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
