“Perry Mason” has been canceled after two seasons at HBO, TheWrap has confirmed.
The Matthew Rhys-led iteration of the classic series, which initially launched as a limited series on HBO, will not be returning for a third season.
“We are tremendously grateful for the remarkable work of Matthew Rhys and the unrivaled cast and crew of ‘Perry Mason’ for their reimagining of such a treasured and storied franchise,” a spokesperson for HBO said in a statement. “While we won’t be moving forward with another season of the series, we are excited to continue working with the brilliant creatives at Team Downey on future projects.”
Official word of the show’s status comes over a month after HBO aired the Season 2 finale of “Perry Mason” on April 24.
Based on the characters created by Erle Stanley Gardner, Rhys reprised his role in the sophomore season, which followed three years after Season 1 of the reimagining debuted in 2020, alongside Juliet Rylance, Shea Whigham and Chris Chalk.
Ahead of Season 2’s premiere, Rhys, who plays the titular character of Perry Mason, expressed excitement for continuing on the show after setting up the characters and central plot, teasing potential future seasons.
“There was talk that it could work as a standalone limited but I just thought, You’ve just set this whole thing up. The whole thing is new and fresh. You’ve just joined not only him but this team. Where you go from here, the sky’s the limit,” Rhys said at the time. “I was very glad that we were given that opportunity.”
Rylance, who plays Della Street in the series, echoed Rhys’ eagerness to continue the show for future seasons.
“It becomes surreal, particularly in this framework. The world that has been created for this show is so rich, and so I think this year, there’s so much delving into these characters in a more detailed way since we’ve already built the world. Now we can actually live in it,” Rylance told TheWrap. “So you think, well, let’s keep living in it.”
“Perry Mason” was executive produced by Team Downey’s Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey with “The Knick” creators Jack Amiel and Michael Begler serving as showrunners for Season 2.
