“The Great” will not return for a fourth season at Hulu. The streaming service canceled the period drama after three critically acclaimed seasons.
The series was created, written and executive produced by “The Favourite” screenwriter Tony McNamara, and it starred Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult in a kooky tale about the life of Russian empress Catherine the Great.
The third season, which dropped all episodes on May 12, followed Catherine (Fanning) and her husband Peter (Hoult) as they worked on their relationship following her staged coup to take control of Russia. Thankfully, the Season 3 finale provided some closure to Catherine’s story, as it featured her growing into her role as leader while grieving a major loss.
The reasons for the cancellation are unclear, given the show’s garnered strong fan response as well as seven Emmy nominations since debuting in 2020. The drama won the Emmy for Outstanding Period Costumes in 2022, with both Fanning and Hoult earning nominations in the acting categories for their roles that year. Fanning also received nominations for her performance as Catherine, including a Screen Actors Guild nod and two Golden Globe nominations.
A spokesperson for Hulu declined to comment on the cancellation.
“The first season, everything was new to me,” Fanning told TheWrap in an interview before the SAG-AFTRA strike of the show. “The memorization always feels like you’re cramming for a huge final every night — your brain is just on fire. But I live for the challenge. I like feeling terrified.”
In addition to Fanning and Hoult, the series also stars Phoebe Fox, Adam Godley, Gwilym Lee, Charity Wakefield, Douglas Hodge, Sacha Dhawan, Bayo Gbadamosi and Belinda Bromilow.
Along with McNamara, “The Great” was executive produced by Marian Macgowan, Mark Winemaker, Fanning, Hoult, Echo Lake’s Brittany Kahan Ward, Doug Mankoff and Andrew Spaulding, Thruline’s Josh Kesselman and Ron West, and Matt Shakman. The series is from Civic Center Media in association with MRC Television.
Deadline first reported the news of the cancellation.
