Has “The Beauty” Been Cancelled?

Earlier this year, FX released a brand new drama series called “The Beauty” on Hulu and Disney+ around the world, which is based on the comic book series written by Haun and Jason A. Hurley.  

The show tells the story of what happens when international supermodels begin dying in gruesome and mysterious ways, two FBI agents are sent to Paris, Venice, Rome and New York to uncover the truth behind these deaths and end up discovering a conspiracy that threatens the future of humanity.

Following its initial release in January on the FX channel, along with Hulu and Hulu On Disney+ in the United States and on Disney+ internationally, new episodes were released week to week, but unfortunately, it looks like the show might not be returning for a second season.

According to Deadline, the cast options have lapsed, meaning the actors are now free from the show’s contract, allowing them to move on to other projects.   

Because “The Beauty” was co-created by Ryan Murphy, it doesn’t necessarily mean that “The Beauty” will be gone forever, as he is constantly working on new projects, like “American Horror Story”, which is returning for its 13th season later this year.  So it’s possible that they come back to the story in a couple of years.

This show also has some advantages, as the unique factor of changing how a character looks following getting infected means that many of the actors from the first few episodes, such as Evan Peters, Vincent D’Onofrio or Rebecca Hall, have seen their characters change, with other actors taking over those roles.

There was also a major cliffhanger at the end of the first season, which saw Evan’s character Cooper taking a new treatment that could return him to how he was, or no longer be in the body of a kid.   That ending, while slightly annoying, could have gone either way if we never got a follow-up season: Cooper returns to his normal looks, and the antidote fixes all the problems this virus causes.  

While I personally really enjoyed “The Beauty”, it did look like an expensive show to make, with scenes set in many beautiful parts of the world, including Venice and some impressive visual effects, which might not justify the cost of a potential second season.  

One of the other issues with “The Beauty”, was that while it was being released, FX also released another Ryan Murphy show, “Love Story”, that grabbed much more attention.  Ryan also has a tendency to move from one project to another, having also only recently launched “9-1-1: Nashville” and his next show, “The Shards”, gets released next month, so it’s clear he has enough work not to worry about bringing back “The Beauty” for another season.  It also highlights that a show has to perform very well to keep Ryan’s attention for multiple seasons.

You can find “The Beauty” out now on Hulu/Hulu On Disney+ in the United States and Disney+ internationally

What do you think of “The Beauty” potentially not returning?  Let me know on social media!