Netflix has long been praised for its push to promote original content, collaborating with filmmakers and actors to push the boundaries of storytelling onscreen. This is precisely what attracted several A-list stars to star in movies for the streamer.
Not only that but it was also enough to persuade hit showrunner Shonda Rhimes to move her Shondaland from ABC to Netflix.
Meanwhile, the streamer has also encouraged offscreen collaboration with stars, such as Dwayne Johnson and Chris Hemsworth. More recently, Netflix also released the vampire series First Kill, which was executive produced by actress Emma Roberts.
Unfortunately, however, the show was canceled season despite First Kill making it to Netflix’s top 10.
Emma Roberts Previously Worked With Netflix Before First Kill
Roberts has had an existing relationship with Netflix for quite some time. After starring in the streamer’s holiday feature Holidate, the actress was also set to star in Netflix’s Spinning Out but had to drop out because of a scheduling conflict.
At some point, Roberts’ Belletrist book club also evolved into a production company and the opportunity to work together again came up when Netflix ordered the actress’ series.
Showunners Had High Hopes For First Kill
Based on a short story written by New York Times bestselling author Victoria "V. E." Schwab (who also serves as the show’s writer and producer), First Kill tells the story of a teenage vampire named Juliette (Sarah Catherine Hook) who sets her sights on Calliope (Imani Lewis), only to learn that she descends from a long line of vampire hunters.
The women soon realize how hard it would be to kill each other as they also found themselves falling for each other. And while that is evident in the pilot, this was just the beginning.
“I wanted to have a world where we have these two forces in opposition, but each one is beautiful and whole and powerful,” Schwab explained.
“So really, while the short story really focuses on Juliette and Calliope, it was always my hope that it would become a show about family.”
At the same time, she wanted to give the queer genre more justice. “I often joke—it’s not really a joke though—that if I had a show like First Kill when I was 16, it probably wouldn’t have taken me till 27 to realize I was gay. I think that’s the beauty of mirrors. As a novelist, I am very aware how often we see queer narratives but [they’re] about queerness,” she said.
“You can have a queer love story, but it better be about coming out. Straight characters don’t get reduced to their identity in a narrative, and it seems like the only time certain people get to take up space is [with] their identity.”
Meanwhile, Felicia D. Henderson, who serves as the series’ showrunner, strongly believes that First Kill has something unique to offer.
“We have something very special that speaks to people who love genre, specifically vampires; who love YA, teen love, queer love, who want to see a Black family normalized in this space, queer love normalized, and people who love fight sequences because we’ve got really nice ones. It’s something for everyone, and I’m excited to share it,” she said.
Why Did Netflix Cancel First Kill?
Following its premiere, it looked like First Kill was a strong performer, making it to Netflix’s Top 10 within the first three days of release and reaching 97.6 million viewing hours during the show’s first 28 days on the streamer.
It certainly looked like the show generated a lot of interest from subscribers. Unfortunately, however, this wouldn’t be enough. As it turned out, Netflix was also looking at another metric closely and that essentially became their basis for canceling the show.
First Kill Viewers Liked The Series, But Not Enough
“When I got the call to tell me they weren’t renewing the show because the completion rate wasn’t high enough, of course, I was very disappointed,” Henderson said.
“What showrunner wouldn’t be? I’d been told a couple of weeks ago that they were hoping completion would get higher. I guess it didn’t.”
Reports indicate that Netflix defines completers as viewers who watch at least 90 percent of a film or an entire season of the series. And as it turns out, First Kill reportedly only had a 45% completion rate, which was not good enough for the streamer.
A rep for Digital I, who shared the show’s completion stats with What’s On Netflix, also explained, “Historically, under 50% almost always leads to cancellation.”
Reflecting on the show’s performance, Henderson also believed that the show would have drawn in more viewers had it been marketed better.
“The art for the initial marketing was beautiful,” she said. “I think I expected that to be the beginning and that the other equally compelling and important elements of the show—monsters vs. monster hunters, the battle between two powerful matriarchs, etc.—would eventually be promoted, and that didn’t happen.”
Fans have also noted that there wasn’t much promotion done for the show even as the premiere date neared.
Meanwhile, beyond First Kill, it doesn’t seem like Roberts would have another producing project with Netflix anytime soon. In 2020, it was announced that her Belletrist Productions has struck a first-look television deal with Hulu.
The first project under this partnership is the small screen adaptation of Tell Me Lies, which is based on a novel by Carola Lovering.
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