It was billed as Netflix's answer to Game of Thrones, but Marco Polo never really reached the great heights it was supposed to and has now been cancelled after its second season.
The show, following the famed explorers early days in the court of Kublai Khan, was a sweeping big-budget production filmed in locations across Malaysia, Kazakhstan and Italy. It proved popular on the streaming service upon its initial release in 2014, however its second season doesn't appear to have fared so well.
Cindy Holland, Netflix VP of Original Content, said, "We want to thank and are grateful to our partners on Marco Polo from the actors, whose performances were enthralling and top-notch; to the committed producers, including John Fusco, Dan Minahan, Patrick Macmanus, and their crew, who poured their hearts into the series; and of course Harvey, David and our friends at TWC, who were great collaborators from start to finish."
The series was produced by the Weinstein company, with chairman Harvey Weinstein saying, "Netflix has been incredible to give us the room to make a series with a cast true to every principle of diversity. It’s a bold network that allows you to do that and support us in the way that Netflix did. As many people know, Asian history and the world of martial arts have fascinated me for all of my career – I’ve made many movies around these topics and this genre, and now this TV show I’m so proud of. John [Fusco] has been a great partner and we’re both fascinated to continue exploring this exciting period in history on future projects together."
