Why was Julie and the Phantoms season 2 cancelled

It appears Julie and the Phantoms have sung their final song. More than a year after its debut in September 2020, creator Kenny Ortega has revealed Netflix has decided not to move ahead with Julie and the Phantoms season 2.

Taking to Instagram on Dec. 18, Ortega revealed that Netflix had officially notified the cast and crew that it would not be picking the fan-favorite series up for a second season.

“We learned this week that Netflix will not be picking us up for another season. Although our hearts are saddened, we move on with such pride for what we accomplished as a team and the family we built while creating Julie,” Ortega noted in announcing the cancellation.

The news comes after a year-long push from fans and the cast for a second season. Despite the series’ ability to create buzz in picking up several awards across the last year and rack up countless streams on Spotify and other music services, Netflix remained mum leaving many to fear what the future might hold for the show.

Is Julie and the Phantoms canceled?

Unfortunately, Julie and the Phantoms will not be returning for a second season. While Netflix has not officially confirmed the show’s cancellation directly, series creator Kenny Ortega took to Instagram on Dec. 18 to confirm he had been notified by Netflix that it would not be moving forward with a second season.

Is Julie and the Phantoms season 2 happening?

Due to Netflix’s decision not to move forward with a second season, there appear to be no plans for a second season of Julie and the Phantoms.

Although Netflix has stepped in to save series over the years, Netflix Originals haven’t been quite as lucky in being saved by other networks or streamers.

While there is a chance a competitor could look to step in and save the show, there do not seem to be any reports that the series will be shopped around with Kenny Ortega suggesting the series is officially complete encouraging fans to “follow us as we move forward with our work and careers,” rather than rallying them to fight for a second season elsewhere.

As such, it does not appear Julie and the Phantoms season 2 will be happening at Netflix or anywhere else.

Why did Netflix cancel Julie and the Phantoms?

Following its cancellation on Dec. 18, the burning question among fans was why exactly Netflix decided not to renew Julie and the Phantoms for a second season. Unfortunately, we might never know the reason behind the show’s cancellation as Netflix has not released an official statement and seldomly provides clarification when canceling series.

Typically series are canceled due to a failure to create buzz among audiences leading to low viewership totals. Given the fan interest in the series, there definitely was buzz but because of how Netflix releases its viewership data it’s impossible to know how many viewers streamed Julie and the Phantoms on Netflix during its premiere month and in the months that have followed.

Julie and the Phantoms was a huge Netflix success in the second half of 2020. The show was loved by fans all over the world and had success immediately upon its release. The show was talked about all over social media from the second it was released and fans couldn't stop talking about it. So why wouldn't the show get a second season? Shows that have performed worse get renewed all the time so Julie and the Phantoms should be a no-brainer for Netflix to renew, right? Wrong.

After its immediate success, Julie and the Phantoms fans waited very impatiently for the show to be renewed. Instead of doing so, Netflix left fans and the stars of the show in the dark about the show's renewal. Netflix seemed to avoid any confrontation instead of telling fans and stars the truth about their impending cancellation; unfortunately, Netflix had no idea the storm that was coming when they finally announced the show's cancellation.

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What Is Julie and the Phantoms?

Netflix

Julie and the Phantoms is not everyone's cup of tea, but it does have something for everyone. The show follows a young girl with a widowed father and a younger brother who is struggling after her mom's passing. The young girl, Julie, is musically talented, but it was something she did with her mom, so she has a hard time singing without her. Julie goes to a performing arts school and thus is unable to properly perform for assignments as well.

Related: Julie and the Phantoms: Why Fans Want (and Deserve) a Season 2

One day, Julie plays a random CD she found in her mom's studio and three teenage ghosts appear, who were members of the band on the CD she just played. These boys died soon after they started playing music (from eating bad hot dogs) and are there because of unfinished business. As it turns out, their unfinished business involves playing a lot of music, exactly what Julie is struggling to do right now. Julie teams up with the Phantoms and develops a band, all of them helping each other to overcome their issues. Julie and her connection with her mother, and the boys with their untimely death and what it means for their families. They overcome all of these challenging issues with some pretty good music and normal teen drama.

Was It Successful?

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Yes! The show captivated audiences all over the world on Netflix and had major opening weekend hype, becoming the number one and top rising show on Netflix. The show was also very popular online, garnering even more fans to seek out the show. While Netflix is a platform with quite a few massive global successes, Julie and the Phantoms definitely makes the list. The show was a hit among fans of all ages, from all walks of life, and all different parts of the world.

Related: Julie and The Phantoms Revival Petition Surpasses 100k Signatures

Julie and the Phantoms was critically successful as well. The show (released in 2020) was nominated for 13 Emmy Awards in 2021. That's a lot! Now, you may be asking yourself if this show was successful on all counts, why are we here writing an article, begging for a second season? Great question, but we may have to ask Netflix about that one, who has been weirdly silent about this. So this one is directed at Netflix: Why cancel a show that brought you success on all counts and press on all forms of media?

Why Should They Have A Second Season?

Netflix

We've gone over the big points here already. It makes sense to renew a show that was successful both critically and commercially, especially considering that show was also nominated for 13 Emmy Awards. Those are all good reasons to renew, but Julie and the Phantoms has even more reasons for renewal. Fans of the show have come out in droves to support these characters they love so much. It is normal to see an outpouring of love for a canceled show, but not in the way that fans came out for Julie and the Phantoms.

Fans wrote a petition for the show's revival which recently passed 190,000 signatures on Change.org, and spread the news of the cancellation on social media. The more fans that heard about the very quiet cancellation, the more complained and signed the petition. The very successful and iconic Kenny Ortega was a producer on this show. You may know him from such hits as every High School Musical film. Ortega has worked with Disney quite frequently over the years, and fans are hoping for a possible pickup of the show by DIsney+.

To be frank, we have no idea what the future of this show is. The most fans can do is continue to sign petitions and hope that it gets picked up by another service. Ortega may be the key to bringing Julie and the Phantoms back, especially if he takes it to a different streaming service.

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