Shadow and Bone season 2 was only released last Thursday, but with audience figures for the first few days, can we look forward to a spin-off (and season 3?)
Here at CultBox we’re savouring season 2 of Shadow and Bone, and wondering just how many more of Leigh Bardugo’s novels Netflix will greenlight. Renewals for supernatural shows seem less frequent than previously (no word yet on another CultBox favourite Lockwood & Co, and The Sandman seemed touch and go for months), so it’s all about numbers.
We’ve also picked up on the story Netflix has started (with some kind of writers’ room) work on adapting more novels, specifically the pair centring on the characters of the Crows, as featured in the novels Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. The events overlap with later parts of the main Grisha novels on which the current Netflix show is based. Like a possible season 3, renewal is all about the numbers.
Week 1 numbers for Shadow and Bone season 2
Here’s the Netflix data for March 13-19, 2023:
| # | TV (ENGLISH) | WEEKS IN TOP 10 | HOURS VIEWED |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | You: Season 4 | 5 | 64,060,000 |
| 2 | Shadow & Bone: Season 2 | 1 | 50,400,000 |
| 3 | MH370: The Plane That Disappeared | 2 | 28,980,000 |
| 4 | Outer Banks: Season 3 | 4 | 25,950,000 |
| 5 | Shadow & Bone: Season 1 | 1 | 24,070,000 |
| 6 | Outlast: Season 1 | 1 | 23,630,000 |
| 7 | Sex/Life: Season 2 | 3 | 22,280,000 |
| 8 | Wednesday: Season 1 | 16 | 14,990,000 |
| 9 | Sex/Life: Season 1 | 10 | 13,180,000 |
| 10 | Perfect Match: Season 1 | 5 | 11,540,000 |
So, straight in at #2. The season was released on Thursday (Friday’s being less automatic than before), so this is four days audience. Only beaten by You, remember that show is in its fourth season, with a loyal fan base. If you look down the list to #5, you will also find season 1 of Shadow & Bone — add the figures, and the show’s total audience is in excess of 74 million hours viewed.
Will we get a renewal?
These are strong figures, and reaction on Rotten Tomatoes is also favourable (as another measure of success), but Netflix are likely to wait for their regulation 28 days. We will look again after week 2 — there’s a rule of thumb suggesting 100 million hours in week 2 tends to guarantee renewal.
If we had to guess (and we will), we are very optimistic there will be a season 3 (and Six of Crows spin-off) — ahead of a full review, we’d say if you enjoyed season 1, you’ll enjoy season 2 more; that was enough to get season 1 renewed, so we won’t be surprised to hear about more seasons in the Grishaverse.
As ever, we’ll keep you posted.