HBO canceled The Time Traveler’s Wife after just one season.
The show, which was an adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger’s bestselling book, didn’t launch until May 15, but the network has clearly seen enough to call time after just six episodes.
The Time Traveler’s Wife followed Rose Leslie’s Clare and Theo James’ Henry, a couple whose relationship is rather complicated by Henry’s condition, a genetic condition that causes him to travel through time frequently and unpredictably, leaving Clare behind when he goes.
Steven Moffat, best known for his work on Doctor Who and Sherlock, edited the series for HBO, while David Nutter, who had been behind the camera on some of Game Of Thrones’ most iconic episodes, starred.
In a statement to Deadline (opens in new tab)an HBO spokeswoman said: “Although HBO will not go ahead with a second season of the wife of the time traveler, we have been privileged to work with master storytellers Steven Moffat and David Nutter. We are so grateful for their passion, hard work and care in crafting this much-loved book. We also thank Theo and Rose, and the rest of our brilliant cast, for their heartfelt performances that left the audience completely entranced.”
The show’s finale aired just 12 days ago and Moffat had plans for more, TVLine told TVLine (opens in new tab): “There is enough juice in the book for more than one season. But at the same time I would call it a limited series, because it can’t go on forever. It has to stop. We already know quite a bit about how it ends. It’s a story of fate, I guess. The end is built into the beginning.”
Unfortunately for him, the ending will be after just six episodes.
Why did HBO pull the plug?
The show’s audience couldn’t have been big enough, which won’t have been helped by the show’s reviews, which were absolutely appalling.
It has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 38% (opens in new tab) with reviewers delving into Moffat’s plot, dialogue, and a book they’ve almost universally labeled unfilmable.
There was also hard evidence to back that up…
Analysis: Some books just don’t work on screen…
Indeed. This is the second time it has been filmed.
The book was actually an option for a movie by Brad Pitt’s production company Plan B Entertainment before it was even released, with Warner Brothers backing it with the promise of a lavish adaptation. Ultimately, the adjustment proved fatal. Stephen Spielberg and David Fincher expressed an interest in taking it on, but never did. Gus Van Sant stuck with it for a while and then left. Finally, Robert Schwentke, the man behind the hulking turkey RIPD and the garbled action thriller Snake Eyes, was hired.
The result, starring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams, was an expensive mess, created after a production filled with endless reshoots and last-minute rewrites. Critics hated that too. And ironically, it has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 38% (opens in new tab)just like the HBO adaptation.
An ironic twist for a story that was supposed to correct the mistakes of the original adaptation. Some books are best left in the imagination of their readers.
We’ve picked five other books that need the miniseries treatment after a failed movie, you can check out our picks here.