When you establish yourself in a market it is important to take care of the subscribers who give you their trust. Who doesn't remember the beginnings of Netflix in which practically all of its original proposals were renewed to strengthen ties with subscribers and sell a more pious image than traditional channels. At SkyShowtime, however, they are not up to the task. If they arrived with the Grease prequel as one of their main bets and the production has already been cancelled, now it is Fatal Attraction and Rabbit Hole that are left without second seasons.
The decision belongs to Paramount, the American platform that produced and premiered both series, although it cannot be dissociated from SkyShowtime, who has broadcast them in Spain: SkyShowtime is the platform resulting from the joint effort of Paramount Global and NBCUniversal to penetrate Europe, a territory where there are already enough platforms and where their solo brands would struggle to succeed.
The two series were essential projects for the brand. Fatal Attraction recovered a well-known intellectual property, the film with Glenn Close and Michael Douglas, to bring the story of the psychopathic lover to the 21st century and with a less reductionist perspective. Two actors with extensive experience such as Joshua Jackson and Lizzy Caplan played this pair of lovers whose relationship ended in murder.
In the case of Rabbit Hole, on the other hand, it was an original work by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa that relied on its main asset: the presence of Kiefer Sutherland, associated with the conspiracy thriller after his participation in the iconic 24 and the moderate success of Designated successor.
Here, as a corporate spy, he found himself in a more twisted plot than any of his previous works. But, by taking shelter at Paramount, he did not obtain the necessary support to justify a second season, especially at this time when studios are seriously reviewing the costs of their streaming services.
While waiting for a resurrected Frasier Crane to arrive on the service, SkyShowtime finds itself in an uncomfortable situation: the lack of impact of its premieres in a market with a multitude of platforms, a cancellation policy that surrounds the service like a losing horse halo and, finally, NBCUniversal's decision to sell some of its most striking original productions to third parties.
And, if the mystery comedy The Resort with Cristin Milioti went directly to Movistar Plus this summer, now they repeat the move with the black comedy Based on a true story with Kaley Cuoco and Chris Messina, which will arrive on the Telefónica platform on November 13. What sense does it make to land with a platform in Spain to, before consolidating it, send your assets to the competition?
