AMC Scraps 61st Street Season 2, Invitation to a Bonfire Series (EXCLUSIVE)

Publish date: 2024-07-20

AMC is no longer moving forward with “61st Street” Season 2 or its series adaptation of “Invitation to a Bonfire,” Variety has learned exclusively.

The second season of legal drama “61st Street” had already been shot, but AMC no longer plans to air it. In addition, four of the six episodes of “Invitation to a Bonfire” had been shot before AMC decided to pull the plug.

The decisions were made as part of cost cutting measures announced by AMC in December 2022, in which the company stated it would take write-downs for up to $475 million. That figure included $400 million for “strategic programming assessments” and $75 million for “organizational restructuring costs,” per an SEC filing. Just prior to that announcement, AMC Networks CEO Christina Spade abruptly departed the company after less than three months in the role. James L. Dolan was then named interim executive chairman by the board of directors shortly thereafter. Dolan is slated to remain in his new role until March 6, 2023 or until the board finds a new CEO, whichever comes first.

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Dolan previously warned AMC staffers about significant cutbacks at the company in a memo following Spade’s exit. “We are primarily a content company and the mechanisms for the monetization of content are in disarray,” he wrote at the time. Dolan also spoke of “a large-scale layoff as well as cuts to every operating area of AMC Networks” that would be implemented. To that end, AMC’s unscripted chief Marco Bresaz became the latest high-profile executive to depart, while AMC also reversed its decision to renew the drama series “Moonhaven” for a second season.

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However, it is possible the scrapped shows could find life on other platforms, as AMC stated in the SEC filing “The Company may realize some future licensing and other revenue associated with some of the owned titles.”

“61st Street” was originally picked up at AMC as a two-season event series in 2019. The first season aired in April 2022. It was created by Peter Moffat and boasted Michael B. Jordan among its executive producers. Courtney B. Vance starred in and executive produced the series, with the cast also including Tosin Cole and Aunjanue Ellis.

“Invitation to a Bonfire” was picked up to series in February 2022. It was to be based on the book of the same name by Adrienne Celt. The series was described as a “psychological thriller set in the 1930s at an all-girls boarding school in New Jersey. Inspired by Vladimir and Vera Nabokov’s codependent marriage, the story revolves around Zoya, a young Russian immigrant and groundskeeper, who is drawn into a lethal love triangle with the school’s newest faculty member — an enigmatic novelist — and his bewitching wife.”

Rachel Caris Love created the series and serves as executive producer and showrunner. Robin Schwartz and Kyle Lauren executive produced, with Carolyn Daucher producing. The cast included Tatiana Maslany, Ngozi Anyanwu, and Pilou Asbæk.

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