After Ray Donovan was unexpectedly canceled, a feature film was announced to replace what would’ve been the show’s final (and eighth) season. The release date is set for early 2022.
The Showtime series followed Leiv Schreiber’s Donovan, a “fixer” who cleaned up crimes committed by high-profile clients, but whose own affairs were not as spotless.
The seven seasons have garnered a cult following and with the last season ending with many loose strings, it was beyond understandable why fans were frustrated over a cancellation notice.
Sadder yet was the fact that showrunner David Hollander disclosed that he and the creative team were not informed about the decision in advance, having already begun work for Season 8.
Shows receive the axe for diminishing numbers, budget issues and other problems — these were not issues that Ray Donovan was facing.
Out of the show’s realm of control, it seems that the merger between CBS and Viacom had a part to play in the cancellation.
Thankfully in the age of the internet, fans were able to sufficiently express their displeasure and demand a return — this same fervor has saved many shows for the better (including Showtime’s recent revival of Dexter).
And the executives at CBS-Viacom had to listen! While fans are not getting exactly what they want, at least a proper farewell for the Ray Donovan franchise is being chalked out.
Filming for the 2-hour feature started early in 2021. The previously announced release date of winter 2021, has now been rescheduled for the first quarter of 2022, as clarified by Showtime President of Entertainment, Gary Levine.
The film will debut on the network itself and will follow through from the events of Season 7. This leads us to assume we can expect to see all the key characters from the series in the film as well. Officially no cast or synopsis has been confirmed.
Hollander and Schreiber have both thanked fans for the dedication put in making this “graceful” finale possible. If you have a show that you think is done dirty, it’s time to take a page from these fans’ books.
About Ray Donovan
Ray Donovan, is a professional “fixer” arranging bribes, payoffs, threats, crime-scene clean-up, and other illegal activities to protect his – usually celebrity – clients.
Ray Donovan is an American television crime drama series created by Ann Biderman for Showtime. The twelve-episode first season premiered on June 30, 2013. The drama is set in Los Angeles, California (during seasons 1–5) and in New York City (in seasons 6–7). The character is soon getting a feature-length film of its own.
Source: Deadline
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