It’s official: The Queen’s Gambit executive producers Scott Frank and William Horberg are not moving forward with a second season of their hit Netflix series.
Developed by Frank and Allan Scott based on Walter Tevis’ 1983 novel of the same name, The Queen’s Gambit took home eleven Emmys at the 73rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, including a win for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. “I feel like we told the story we wanted to tell,” said Frank, speaking to Deadline after the ceremony, “and I worry — let me put it differently — I’m terrified that if we try to tell more, we would ruin what we’ve already told.”
Anya Taylor-Joy also won an Emmy for her performance in The Queen’s Gambit as Beth Harmon, a chess prodigy who struggles with addiction and emotional trauma from her dark past while battling her way to the top of the male-dominated world of competitive chess in the 1950s and ’60s. Four weeks after its debut in 2020, Netflix announced the show was its most-watched scripted miniseries to date, drawing views from 62 million households.
“We’re all certainly going to keep working together,” added Horberg, to which Taylor-Joy responded, “Absolutely.” Horberg also said they would “try to find another story to tell with the same passion and team of amazing artists.” That includes Moses Ingram and Marielle Heller, who received much in the way of critical praise for their supporting performances as, respectively, Beth’s childhood friend Jolene and Beth’s adopted mother-turned manager Alma Wheatley.
Earlier this year, Taylor-Joy admitted she and the show’s creatives had “never thought about” making a second season of The Queen’s Gambit during production. However, were the show to ever continue in any shape or form, she noted, “It would be very interesting to see how Beth would be as a mother, now that she’s sober and more cognizant of the demons that pull her down.”
As for the immediate future, Taylor-Joy stars in Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho, a horror/thriller that recently premiered on the film festival circuit ahead of its theatrical release on Oct. 29. Elsewhere, Ingram stars in Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, a retelling of William Shakespeare’s tragedy scheduled to premiere at the New York Film Festival on Sept. 24.
Source: Deadline
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