The Queen’s Gambit is still drawing a wide audience for Netflix. The 2020 show starred Anya Taylor-Joy as the fictional chess champion Beth Harmon, whose growing addictions both support and challenge her desire to be the best chess player ever. The seven-episode show became an instant hit both critically and commercially, earning 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and becoming the streaming platform’s most-watched scripted show to that point, though it was later usurped by other shows including Wednesday, Dahmer, and Squid Game.
Netflix recently released their first comprehensive Engagement Report, revealing viewership data for their titles between the months of January and June 2023. In spite of the fact that, being a limited series, The Queen’s Gambit ended as it launched and hasn’t released more episodes since October 2020, it managed to rack up 45.9 million viewing hours during that 2023 period. This proved to be even more than many more recent titles, including Virgin River season 4, Guillermo del Toro‘s Pinocchio, and The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker.
Why Isn’t The Queen’s Gambit Season 2 Happening?
Considering the fact that the show is continuing to find success on the platform, it’s somewhat odd that The Queen’s Gambit season 2 has never gotten off the ground. The show was always intended to be a limited series, but many similar shows have expanded into further seasons after becoming hits, such as Big Little Lies and Under the Dome. However, director and showrunner Scott Frank has previously stated that he was “terrified that if we try to tell more, we would ruin what we’ve already told.”
There is also the matter of the availability of the Queen’s Gambit cast. Taylor-Joy is an in-demand actress whose commitment to the Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa has kept her busy for quite some time, not to mention her recent roles in projects including The Northman, The Menu, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and Last Night in Soho. Her co-stars would also be difficult to wrangle due to various commitments, including Thomas Brodie-Sangster (The Artful Dodger), Moses Ingram (Obi-Wan Kenobi), and Harry Melling (The Pale Blue Eye).
It seems somewhat more likely that a spinoff of The Queen’s Gambit could get off the ground rather than a proper sequel or prequel. However, the fact that none has materialized in three years could indicate that there is no interest in such a project, despite the original show’s continued success. That doesn’t mean that Netflix is resting on their laurels with the title, though, as they recently launched a chess simulator tie-in game as part of their expanded gaming empire.
The Queen’s Gambit
Based on the novel by Walter Tevis, the Netflix limited series drama The Queen’s Gambit is a coming-of-age story that explores the actual cost of genius. Abandoned and entrusted to a Kentucky orphanage in the late 1950s, a young Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) discovers an astonishing talent for chess. Haunted by her personal demons and fueled by a cocktail of narcotics and obsession, Beth transforms into an impressively skilled and glamorous outcast, determined to conquer the traditional boundaries established in the male-dominated world of competitive chess.
- Release Date
- October 23, 2020
- Cast
- Anya Taylor-Joy , Moses Ingram , Marcin Dorocinski , Akemnji Ndifornyen , Jacob Fortune-Lloyd , Rebecca Root , Christiane Seidel , Harry Melling , Patrick Kennedy , Bill Camp , Isla Johnston , Thomas Brodie-Sangster , Chloe Pirrie , Marielle Heller
- Genres
- sport , Drama
- Seasons
- 1
- Season List
- The Queen’s Gambit – Season 1
- Story By
- scott frank
- Writers
- Scott Frank
- Streaming Service(s)
- Netflix
- Directors
- Scott Frank
- Showrunner
- Scott Frank
