Developed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski, the pair behind “The Matrix” franchise and “Cloud Atlas,” along with “Babylon 5” creator J. Michael Straczynski, “Sense8” is a 2015 show that was funded by Netflix. Featuring an ensemble cast including Naveen Andrews, Bae Doona, Jamie Clayton, Tina Desai, and Freema Agyeman, the show follows a group of people from around the world who inexplicably gain the ability to psychically link with each other. Before they know it, they’re being menaced by a secret organization apparently led by an enigmatic individual known as “Whispers.”
“Sense8” received positive reviews from critics and viewers and won a number of awards but that didn’t stop Netflix from canceling “Sense8” at the end of Season 2. An outcry from fans led to the streaming giant producing a final two-and-a-half hour-long finale to tie up the story and ensure it didn’t end on a cliffhanger.
Variety reported that the chief content officer for Netflix at the time, Ted Sarandos confirmed the show was simply proving to be too expensive considering its small audience. While the company doesn’t generally release information about budgets and viewing figures, the fact that it cost around $9 million per episode was seemingly too much for Netflix to justify. Most of this cost came down to the long production time and the fact that it was filmed on location around the world, inflating the price.