Netflix cancels ‘Resident Evil’ series after season 1

MANILA, Philippines – Netflix has canceled the live-action series of the video game Resident Evil after just one season due to its cost and viewership disparity. 

According to a Deadline report, Resident Evil snagged the top two spot when it first aired in July, racking up 72.7 million hours worth of viewership. The series saw a drop to the third rank after its second week registered 73.3 million hours.  However, by the third week, it was booted out of the Top 10 and failed to improve its standing. 

The series earned a 55% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 27% audience approval rating. 

Spread out across two time periods, Resident Evil follows 14-year-old fraternal twin sisters Jade and Billie Wesker as they settle down in New Raccoon City. The twins quickly begin to realize that this new town fosters destructive secrets of its own. 

In the 2036 timeline, the post-apocalyptic Earth is inhabited by more monsters than humans because of the deadly T-virus. Although Jade seems to be coping well in this new environment, she continues to be disturbed by her past life with her sister and father, Albert Wesker. 

The series stars Paola Núñez, Ella Balinska, Adeline Rudolph, Tamara Smart, Lance Reddick, Ahad Raza Mir, and Siena Agudong, among others. 

Andrew Dabb served as the series’ showrunner, executive producer, and developer. Meanwhile, Mary Leah Sutton took on the role of executive producer and writer. Robert Kulzer and Oliver Berben were also executive producers. The Netflix series ran for just eight episodes before its abrupt cancellation. 

Netflix’s Resident Evil is based on the popular action-horror video game franchise of the same name that has players going head to head with monsters and other creatures. The very first game was released in 1996. Since then, the franchise has merited its own original film series from 2001 to 2016, followed by a 2021 reboot called Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. – with reports from Juno Reyes/Rappler.com

Juno Reyes is a Rappler intern.