If you're reading this, it means you finished the first 10 episodes of Netflix's trippy new drama, Maniac. And it probably means that you're wondering if there will be 10 more, or 20 more, or 100 more. Like in one of Annie's pill A-induced fever dreams, there are endless layers to unpack in Cary Fukunaga's series. There could easily be more episodes, and more mysteries to unravel from Annie (Emma Stone_ and Owen's (Jonah Hills) life, and from the other floors of Neberdine Biotech Pharmaceuticals.
But in all honesty, I wouldn't count on a season 2 of the show. The ending, and post-credits scene, was quite wholesome and fairly definitive. But if there is a season 2 (those Netflix people have deep pockets), then definitely don't count on Fukunaga (who wrote and directed season 1) to be a part of it. With the announcement that he will direct the next Bond movie, Bond 25, he is about to be busier than ever. And he point-blank isn't interested in making a season 2. He tells Business Insider that while he would be "very happy" if a follow-up season is pursued by Netflix, he is signing off from it for good.
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"For me, I like to do one and move onto something else," Fukunaga tells the site (this is almost exactly what he did with HBO after directing the first season of True Detective). "I'd be very happy if another season were to happen, but I think they were just thinking about this as a limited season and if there's an appetite for another one then I think [show creator] Patrick [Somerville] would be happy to take it up and do it again. But not with me."
In his own interviews, Somerville hasn't confirmed or denied the idea of a second season, but he has spoken to the unique difficulties and tensions around the production of season 1. “It was super stressful," he tells The Ringer in regards to the show's bingeable 10-part format. "It put a lot of pressure on the crew, on the cast, with a lot of changes happening. But there’s no point in a collaboration unless everybody involved is getting what they think is absolutely necessary to get the best version of the show.”
This wouldn't be the first time that a popular adapted series (the show is based on a Norwegian original of the same name) found life after being labeled a "limited series," as Maniac is. Jean Marc Valle, the director of HBO's Emmy-winning Big Little Lies, which is based on Liane Moriarty's book of the same name, also told viewers that regardless of the show's fate, he would definitely not return for a season 2 if asked. But then the entire cast of BLL decided to return, and a new director (American Honey's Andrea Arnold) was found, and now we have a highly-anticipated season 2 on our horizon.
Could a female director come in and bring us the next phase of Maniac? Only time will tell. What? Were you really expecting a clear answer from the guys who brought this mind fuck of a show to life? No way.
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