Amazon Prime Video cancels Etoile after one season

Amazon Prime Video has decided not to move forward with a second season of Étoile, effectively cancelling the ballet drama just weeks after its first season dropped, despite having originally greenlit two seasons straight to series.

Created by The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel duo Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino, Étoile debuted its eight-episode first season roughly six weeks ago. The show, which stars Luke Kirby and Charlotte Gainsbourg as artistic heads of fading ballet companies in New York and Paris, follows their risky decision to swap their lead dancers in an attempt to revive their institutions. Filmed on location in both cities, Étoile was a visually ambitious project and a costly one.

The initial two-season commitment, announced in 2023 as Maisel was wrapping up its final run, was part of a broader overall deal the Palladinos have with Amazon MGM Studios. However, such multi-season agreements often include performance-based clauses, allowing the streamer to back out if certain benchmarks aren't met. That appears to have been the case here.

In the three weeks of available viewership data, Étoile failed to crack Nielsen’s top 10 streaming rankings, a likely factor in Amazon’s decision to pull the plug early. The show's muted performance coupled with high production costs and an ongoing shakeup within Amazon’s studio leadership contributed to its premature end.

In addition to Kirby and Gainsbourg, the ensemble cast included Gideon Glick, Lou de Laâge, David Alvarez, Ivan du Pontavice, Taïs Vinolo, David Haig, LaMay Zhang, and Simon Callow. The series was executive produced by Sherman-Palladino and Palladino, alongside Dhana Rivera Gilbert, with Scott Ellis serving as co-executive producer.