Netflix cancels new nail-biting thriller despite weeks in Top 10 list,
Netflix has reportedly canceled a popular new series, highly recommended by fans, just three months after the show was released.
The streamer is not moving forward with plans for a second season of Billionaires’ Bunker, Spanish news outlet EL PAÍS reported on Thursday.
Written by Álex Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato, the show follows a group of billionaires who hide in an underground bunker, called Kimera Underground Park, in a bid to keep safe from a nuclear war.
‘When a group of billionaires takes shelter in a luxury bunker, an old feud between two families resurfaces amid an unprecedented global conflict,’ the streaming service’s synopsis reads.
The show racked up 152 million viewing hours and 20.7 million completed views, staying in Netflix’s Top 10 for four straight weeks from September 14 to October 12.
However, Rotten Tomatoes gave the show a disappointing 33 percent.
According to EL PAÍS, Netflix has confirmed the cancellation, notified the actors and has begun dismantling the sets in Spain.
Despite hailing from the creators of another popular Netflix series, Money Heist, reports suggested Billionaires’ Bunkers became one of the ‘most expensive and ambitious projects from Netflix Spain.’
News about the cancellation has yet to spread, as fans recently shared this week on X: ‘Netflix, we need Billionaires’ bunker season two please!’
Netflix initially had sky-high expectations for Billionaires’ Bunker, with Diego Ávalos, the company’s VP of Content in Spain, calling it ‘the most ambitious series ever produced in the country.’
Billionaires’ Bunker is just one of many shows Netflix has canceled this year, joining the list with Shondaland’s The Residence, the hit action-thriller The Recruit, fantasy animation Wolf King, crime drama The Waterfront, and the popular comic adaptation The Sandman
While also seeing the final seasons of major hits like Stranger Things, Squid Game, and Big Mouth announced for the year.
The canceled series comes just days after Netflix agreed to buy Warner Bros.’ studio and streaming businesses in a $72 billion deal that is set to reshape Hollywood and the entertainment industry.
The streaming giant announced its plan on December 5 to become the new owner of the storied studio on Friday morning, after entering a successful bid of $27.75-a-share to parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.
The offer put an end to a bidding war between Netflix, and CBS News parent Paramount and NBC News’ Comcast.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos welcomed the acquisition in a statement, saying: ‘Our mission has always been to entertain the world.
‘By combining Warner Bros.’ incredible library of shows and movies – from timeless classics like Casablanca and Citizen Kane to modern favorites like Harry Potter and Friends – with our culture-defining titles like Stranger Things, KPop Demon Hunters and Squid Game, we’ll be able to do that even better.
‘Together, we can give audiences more of what they love and help define the next century of storytelling.’
The acquisition is set to close in the third quarter of 2026, both companies said.
While Netflix acquires Warner Bros.’ studio and HBO Max in the next 12 to 18 months, Discovery will proceed with its spinoff, Discovery Global.
CNN and other Warner Bros-owned cable assets like TNT will be cast off to the new company.
The company reached an industry-leading 301.6 million global subscribers this year, with that number now only set to grow.
Rival studio Paramount placed bids to Warner Bros. Discovery in recent weeks, though they were not enough to sway Netflix.
