‘The Wheel of Time’ Star Rosamund Pike Says Terrible Churn was to Blame for Fantasy Saga’s Cancellation

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Fans of fantasy were excited when Prime Video started streaming both a Lord of the Rings series and an adaptation of Robert Jordan’s epic The Wheel of Time. While the Lord of the Rings show, The Rings of Power, has faced some criticism, Prime Video continues to support it. However, The Wheel of Time was unexpectedly canceled after only three seasons, and one of the show’s stars believes they know the reason why.

In a recent interview with Collider to promote her upcoming film, Now You See Me, Now You Don’t, Rosamund Pike discussed how streaming services’ constant demand for fresh content—what she called the “terrible churn”—can quickly make older shows feel outdated. She explained that this pressure for “new things” often leads to series being overlooked.

Fans didn’t love the first season, and honestly, I think they had a point. We faced a lot of challenges while filming, including COVID outbreaks and changes in key crew members. By season two, we’d found our footing and improved the show significantly. Season three really allowed us to shine – it was a well-made, compelling series that even attracted some big-name actors for smaller roles. We proved what we could do with the story. It makes you wonder if we’d have lasted longer if we’d started off that strong. Maybe. It feels like we were caught up in the industry’s constant push for new content, and that ultimately led to our cancellation. It’s all about having something ‘new’ to offer.

Could ‘The Wheel of Time’ Ever Return to Screens?


Prime Video

Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time is a sprawling fantasy series, comparable in length and fanbase to Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. However, it hasn’t achieved the same widespread popularity in mainstream culture. According to Brandon Sanderson, there’s a dedicated enough readership to potentially allow the story to continue even after Jordan’s passing.

I’ve seen how much the show means to people, but this event let fans truly share their experiences. They came to connect with others they’d met through The Wheel of Time, including people who’d gotten married or found the courage to come out, thanks to the show. Some even shared that discovering The Wheel of Time saved their lives. It was incredibly moving, and I wished the Amazon executives could have been there with me to hear these powerful stories firsthand.

Robert Pike was right about The Wheel of Time needing time to find its footing, and reviews seem to support that – the show clearly got better from season one to three, with audience approval jumping from 62% to 85%. Despite consistently negative feedback, The Rings of Power still draws huge numbers of viewers, which suggests The Wheel of Time‘s cancellation wasn’t simply due to poor reviews. Whether another streaming service will pick up the story remains to be seen.

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2025-11-16 18:35