by Thinus Ferreira
The South African produced Queen Sono has become the Netflix series to be abruptly cancelled after renewal because of the global Covid-19 pandemic, with Netflix telling TVwithThinus that it is no longer moving forward with Netflix's first Netflix African Original series it ever commissioned that was already renewed for a second season earlier in 2020.
Netflix already cancelled shows like GLOW, The Society, I am Not Okay with This that were renewed and supposed to have further seasons because of the financial and logistical production implications of Covid-19.
Queen Sono, produced by Diprente and headlined by Pearl Thusi, was renewed earlier this year but has now also been axed.
Netflix mentioned nothing to the media about Queen Sono's cancellation during last week's first-ever Netflix South Africa Content Showcase 2020 event with Dorothy Ghettuba, head of Netflix's African Originals and Ben Amadasun, director of licensing and co-productions in Africa.
In response to a media enquiry, Netflix says "We’ve made the difficult
decision not to move forward with season 2 of Queen Sono".
"We are incredibly
proud of the Diprente team for sharing their audacious vision and bringing it
to life with Netflix."
"A huge thank you to our fans across the world for the
love shared for our first African Original series. Netflix is also grateful to
the amazing efforts shown by the cast and crew for their stellar efforts in creating
this show for our members around the world."
We’ll continue to work closely with
South Africa’s creative industry to keep producing more compelling 'made-in-South Africa' stories."
Kagiso Lediga, Diprente director, says that "We wrote a beautiful story that
spanned the continent but unfortunately could not be executed in these current
trying times".
In response to the Queen Sono cancellation, Pearl Thusi says "It’s so incredible that we as a
team got a lifetime opportunity to make history together as there will never be
another ‘first’ African Netflix Original Series. I’m proud of the work we did,
but everything happens for a reason. I am excited about what the future holds."
