According to The Hollywood Reporter, Apple TV+ has canceled The Mosquito Coast. The news has been announced only two weeks after the season two finale.
The Mosquito Coast follows the dangerous journey of a radical idealist and brilliant inventor, Allie Fox, who uproots his family for Mexico when they suddenly find themselves on the run from the US government, per IMDB. Fox is played by Justin Theroux (Mulholland Drive, Your Highness) and is joined by Melissa George (Hunted, Home and Away), Logan Polish (The Astronaut Farmer, Margot), and Gabriel Bateman (Child’s Play, Lights Out), who play wife Megan, and children Dina and Charlie Fox, respectively.
The drama is based on the 1986 movie of the same name, which starred Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Fugitive), Helen Mirren (The Queen, Hitchcock), River Phoenix (My Own Private Idaho, Stand By Me), and Jadrien Steele (Victoriana, Winter Fugue). The film was based on the 1981 novel, also titled The Mosquito Coast, by Paul Theroux (Justin Theroux’s uncle), who is known for his books The Great Railway Bazaar and Deep South.
Via The Hollywood Reporter, Justin Theroux and showrunner Neil Cross (Luther, Mama) reportedly tried to stick to the original storyline but ended up making significant changes to the TV adaptation: “We made a couple fundamental changes from the book and the movie. We wanted to push Margot, who didn’t even have the name Margot in the book or the movie; she was just called Mother. But we wanted to give her agency. We architecturally thought of her as the real patriarch of the family, and Allie as almost one of the children. And then we wanted to change the older child into a girl and give her agency as well. It dawned on us that if these two children have been raised in such a closed circuit, they would not be as evolved — or even devolved — as the parents.”
The streaming service first announced news of the thriller in 2019, adding stars George and Theroux, and was renewed for its second season just days before the season one finale. Season two debuted with its first episode on November fourth last year and subsequently released weekly episodes on Fridays. The season finale, the tenth episode, aired on January sixth.
The Mosquito Coast seasons one and two are streaming now on Apple TV+. The official trailer for the second installment is available below.