1899 CANCELED after one season: Netflix fails to renew German period horror – two months after streamer was accused of ‘stealing’ Brazilian graphic novelist’s work for show
- Show initially hit the streaming service this past November
- Creators said, ‘With a heavy heart we have to tell you that 1899 will not be renewed’
- The show was immersed in controversy amid allegations the show had plagiarized its material from a Brazilian graphic novel
- Dailymail.com has reached out for comment
Netflix has canceled the mystery thriller 1899, the show’s creators Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar said in a joint statement on Instagram Monday.
‘With a heavy heart we have to tell you that 1899 will not be renewed,’ they said. ‘We would have loved to finish this incredible journey with a 2nd and 3rd season as we did with Dark. But sometimes things don’t turn out the way you planned.
‘That’s life. We know this will disappoint millions of fans out there. But we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts that you were a part of this wonderful adventure. We love you. Never forget.’
The show had previously been immersed in controversy amid allegations the show had plagiarized its material from a Brazilian graphic novel.
The latest: Netflix has canceled the mystery thriller 1899, the show’s creators Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar said in a joint statement on Instagram Monday
Insiders close to the series confirmed the show’s cancellation to Deadline.
The eight-episode series focused on the events surrounding a the passengers on a migrant steamship forging west with optimism at the turn of the century when they cross paths with the Prometheus, another ship at sea, significantly changing the tone of the trip.
The series debuted on Netflix on November 17, 2022, featuring a cast including Emily Beecham, Aneurin Barnard, Andreas Pietschmann, Miguel Bernardeau, Maciej Musial, Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen, Rosalie Craig, Clara Rosager, Maria Erwolter, Yann Gael, Mathilde Ollivier, José Pimentão, Isabella Wei, Gabby Wong, Jonas Bloquet, Fflyn Edwards, Alexandre Willaume and Anton Lesser.
Friese and bo Odar, who also created the series Dark, previously told The Hollywood Reporter that they had already developed concepts for a second and third season of the series.
The show’s creators made the announcement in a statement on social media Monday
Friese and bo Odar, who previously created the series Dark, previously told The Hollywood Reporter that they had already developed concepts for a second and third season of the series
The eight-episode series focused on the events surrounding a the passengers on a migrant steamship forging west with optimism at the turn of the century
The show’s production was done on a stage at Germany’s Babelsberg Studios.
Dailymail.com has reached out for comment.
The show was immersed in controversy after its premiere last fall amid allegations it had plagiarized its material from a Brazilian graphic novel.
The author Mary Cagnin, from Sao Paolo, took to Twitter after the show was released on the streaming platform in November, saying she was shocked to see that 1899 features imagery very similar to her 2016 graphic novel Black Silence.
The ship crossed paths with the Prometheus, another ship at sea, significantly changing the tone of the trip
Andreas Pietschmann, Emily Beecham and Aneurin Barnard were seen in a shot from the show
Anton Lesser played the role of Henry Singleton on the short-lived series
The show, which tells the story of a group of migrants travelling to Ellis Island aboard a steamboat in 1899, features the same triangle theme throughout the episode, similar to illustrations in her novel.
Mary also accused the Netflix show of ripping off details from her own story, including the deaths of some of her characters. She claims that Netflix did not contact her about using her artwork without permission.
However, several people who watched the show and read her novel said that the pyramid and triangle theme is where the similarities between the two stops.
In a now deleted post, producer Jantje Friese defended 1899 against the claims on Instagram, saying Mary was ‘crying wolf’ and that the series was not based on any pre-existing material.
The author Mary Cagnin took to Twitter after the show was released on the streaming platform last week, claiming she was shocked to see that 1899 featured imagery very similar to her 2016 graphic novel Black Silence (right)
The show, which tells the story of a group of migrants travelling to Ellis Island aboard a steamboat in 1899, sports the same triangle theme throughout the episode that is similar to triangles that appear in her novel and showcases an eerie black pyramid
The black pyramid Mary drew for her graphic novel, which was published in Brazil in 2016
Mary took to Twitter last Sunday to share her shock after 1899 was released on Netflix last week.
‘I’M IN SHOCK. The day I found out that the 1899 series is just IDENTICAL to my comic Black Silence, published in 2016. Follow the thread,’ she said, before listing several examples she felt proved her point.
‘It’s all there: The Black Pyramid. The deaths inside the ship/ship. The multinational crew. The apparently strange and unexplained things. Symbols in the Eyes and When They Appear,’ she went on.
She shared a screenshot of her own graphic novel next to some of the advertising material for the Netflix show, pointing out that 1899 characters have the same triangle-shaped pupils that her characters sport in her novel.
Mary said she advertised in Europe at a book fair in Sweden in 2017, where she brought the manuscript and its English version with her
1899 was an instant hit with viewers when it was released last week, but is now the object of the plagiarism controversy
She also referenced the appearance of an eerie back pyramid in 1899 which again is similar to a black pyramid appearing in her novel.
Mary also felt that Netflix copied some subtle plot details appearing in her work, regarding the backstories of some characters and their families.
The author claimed that her original idea could have been circulated at the 2017 Gothenburg Book Fair in Sweden, where she distributed the manuscript and its English version to several publishers and other attendees.
The author shared screenshot of scenes from her graphic novel that she feels were similar to the Netflix show, including a character plummeting to their death
A character also falls to their death from the steamboat in Netflix’s 1899, which was pointed out by Mary and her fans
The author added she was ‘heartbroken,’ believing her work was used like this, and that she ‘cried a lot’ over the issue.
She went on to say: ‘Black Silence is a short work, almost a short story. It is very easy, in 12 hours of projection of the series, to dilute all these “references”, but the essence of what I created is there.’
Her thread has been shared by fans of her work on the social media platform, with many feeling the similarities between her work and the Netflix show ‘are not coincidental.’
One wrote: ‘The new Netflix show “1899” just straight up stole a Brazilian comic book called Black Silence.’
Mary shared another screenshot of both 1899 and Black Silence where female characters wear a similar helmet
Fans shared Mary’s claims on Twitter, saying there are too many similarities between the two works to be a coincidence
Meanwhile, 1899 producer Jantje Friese addressed the claims on her Instagram account, which has since then been deleted.
She wrote: ‘A Brazilian artist has claimed we stole from her graphic novel. To make it clear: we did not! Until yesterday we weren’t even aware of the existence of that graphic novel.
‘Over two years we have put pain, sweat and exhaustion into the creation of 1899. This is an original idea and not based on any source material. Nevertheless we’ve been bombarded with messages – some of them ugly and hurtful.
‘Someone cries wolf and everyone jumps on it, not even checking whether the claims make any sense.
‘Of course should this be a scheme to sell more of of her graphic novels: well played,’ she added.
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