Max Boss Says OFMD Has Only One Option Left

Summary

• After Max announced it is closing David Jenkins' OFMD, fans of the pirate romcom launched a passionate campaign to save the show.
• However, Max CEO Casey Bloys said in a recent interview that there were reasonable reasons behind the studio's decision.
• He added that the fan-favorite series now has only one option left.

The cancellation of Our Flag Means Death (OFMD) at the very beginning of 2024 came as a blow to the show's dedicated fanbase.

Fans who had hoped that David Jenkins would be able to realize his three-part series plan felt devastated by Max's decision. Negative emotions turned into energy for action. And the #RenewAsACrew campaign was born.

Fight to save OFMD

The OFMD fandom has always been active and passionate about their beloved show. And they are even more so now that the pirate romcom needs their help to survive.

To date, fans have created the website RenewAsACrew.com, bombarded Max's accounts and feedback forms with thousands of pleas to reverse the decision, made the hashtags #SaveOFMD and #RenewAsACrew trending on social media, and brought the petition addressed to the streaming service to nearly 60,000 signatures.

In the petition, fans mention the uniqueness and importance of David Jenkins' show, industry recognition, diverse representation, fan engagement and successful run, citing The Wrap's report that OFMD topped the Max charts for seven consecutive weeks.

However, it seems that was not enough for the streaming giant.

Max CEO weighs in

Chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content, Casey Bloys, recently addressed the question of OFMD in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. He emphasized that the reason for the cancellation was insufficient ratings.

'Nobody likes to cancel a show,' Bloys said. 'But the fact of the matter is the numbers weren't there for a renewal.'

As for the possibility of reversing the cancellation and ordering OFMD Season 3 after the intense fan campaign, Bloys did not sound optimistic. He basically made it clear that OFMD has only one option left - to find a new platform.

'Whenever we cancel a show, if a creator can set it up elsewhere, we support them. That is an option for Our Flag,' his exact words were. 'It didn't make sense for us but it might be for someone else. We let the producers know if they can find a home, we'll be supportive of that.'

Now, such a statement is definitely a further blow to the fans. But the chance that OFMD will be picked up by another streaming service is not that small. Hollywood history is full of cases where fans managed to convince different platforms to renew their beloved canceled series. Netflix did it. Prime Video did it too.

So it looks like the fight to save our favorite pirate story will have to continue with everything the fans got. Just don't forget, you need to take care of yourself.

Source: The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter.