We nearly got a movie of Netflix's best canceled sci-fi show

There could have been closure...

We nearly got a movie of Netflix's best canceled sci-fi show

There is only thing more frustrating than Netflix canceling your favorite show, and that's them not allowing any sort of closure, just ending the thing whether there are loose ends or not.

Unfortunately, this is the case for most Netflix series but a few do get some sort of closure - like what happened with Sense8 and, according to a new report, what nearly happened with The OA.

That's right, The OA - one of the best Netflix sci-fi shows ever made - nearly had a movie to wrap up its intricate plot. But the idea was rejected by the makers of the shows themselves, despite it meaning they - and the viewers - would have had some closure.

This is according to a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Speaking during the press tour for their latest show, A Murder at the End of the World - which we recently called the best show you need to watch that isn't on Netflix - they decided not to take Netflix up on the offer as they felt that there is still life left in the show.

"The OA ending was unexpected to me, but they did try to get us to wrap it up with a movie and we said no," said co-showrunner Zal Batmanglij.

"So I didn’t feel burnt because of that; I felt more puzzled. If you’re Netflix, why don’t you just finish it with more than just a wrap-up movie? Why don’t you finish it with a third season? It would force us to bring the three [remaining and planned] seasons into one and close it up, and then you could outsource it to Max or Hulu or wherever. You can do so much with it if it’s finished."

We nearly got a movie of Netflix's best canceled sci-fi show

Image Credit: Netflix

Batmanglij offers up some really good questions there - if Netflix were prepared to conclude the show, why not just make it a third season and profit from the complete thing?

Co-showrunner Britt Marling was also disappointed with the lack of a third season but was heartened by the fan response and happy with what Netflix achieved with the show.

"It is hard to have feelings of bitterness," Marling notes. "I actually feel really grateful to Netflix in the sense that we made something so wholly original and then they piped it into houses all over the world, like a fourth utility. Water, gas, electricity and Netflix. It had this incredible reach for a story that was really outside of the box, and I really think it’s a feat."

Both creators of the OA are holding out hope that the show will return somewhere and somehow in some guise, until then we do urge you to watch Murder At The End Of The World which is streaming on Disney Plus/Hulu now.

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Marc Chacksfield
Content Director

As Content Director of Shortlist, Marc likes nothing more than to compile endless lists of an evening by candlelight. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.