by Thinus Ferreira
HBO has cancelled its low-rated Cape Town-filmed Chinese martial arts period drama Warrior with the 3-season series that is moving to Netflix where it might be revived if the show does better on the streaming service.
Warrior which was on M-Net (DStv 101) and MultiChoice's streamer Showmax has been cancelled by Warner Bros. Discovery but the existing three seasons will now jump to Netflix, where it might be revived for a fourth season if ratings are good enough.
Warrior was actually cancelled once before.
Warrior, filmed at Cape Town Film Studios in South Africa by Moonlighting with some South African talent like Langley Kirkwood, Armand Aucamp, André Jacobs, Frank Rautenbach, Nat Ramabulana, Sean-Marco Vorster and Sizo Mahlangu appearing on screen, made its debut in 2019 on Cinemax for two seasons after it was cancelled.
Warner Bros. Discovery's HBO then picked it up for a third season in April 2021 as a Max Original which recently made its debut but WBD decided to cancel the show and not proceed with a fourth season.
The Warrior cast has been released from their contracts with several who have moved on to other projects, meaning a possible fourth season will mean another reset for the show that was set during the infamous Tong Wars in San Francisco's Chinatown during the late 19870s.
Creator Jonathan Tropper in a statement, says "Warrior is a show that simply refuses to die. Through platform and regime changes, the writers, producers, cast, crew, and our stunt team continued to make something powerful, relevant, and wildly unique".
"Now, thanks to Netflix, we've been given yet another lease on life, and I'm thrilled for everyone involved that millions more viewers around the world will discover it."
Shannon Lee, daughter of Bruce Lee, says "My wish is that the huge global Netflix audience loves Warrior and from that love more goodness flows – in the form of greater recognition for our talented cast and crew who deserve all the things, in the form of passionate fandom for this relevant kick-ass show and, if I dare to dream, in the form of an opportunity to continue our story for our amazing fans who, thanks to Netflix, will have grown in number and enthusiasm."
