It's bad news for American Rust fans as Amazon cancels the series

American Rust is canceled again. This time, Amazon has decided not to continue with the series. Find out why.
Jeff Daniels as Del Harris in AMERICAN RUST, "The Mill". Photo credit: Dennis Mong/SHOWTIME.
Jeff Daniels as Del Harris in AMERICAN RUST, "The Mill". Photo credit: Dennis Mong/SHOWTIME. /
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SDCC has come to an end for another season. Of course, it brought a lot of good news. It also brought some bad news for some fans. American Rust fans were delivered a blow.

Amazon has decided not to renew the series. This decision was somewhat foreshadowed by Maura Tierney joining Law & Order as a series regular in the new season. It would be unlikely that she could do that as a series regular and remain on a streaming series. It’s not impossible, but improbable.

So, American Rust Season 3 is not happening. Do we know why?

Why is American Rust canceled?

Amazon hasn’t given an official reason, but we can take a guess that it comes down to cost. It’s simply a business decision. After being saved, American Rust: Broken Justice got a quiet release on Prime Video back in March 2024. It was one of those blink-and-you-miss-it releases, which wasn’t fair to the series at all. Amazon has a problem with doing this, especially for the second seasons of shows. Just look at The Wild as an example of that.

So, there likely wasn’t the interest in the series that Amazon hoped to gain. With that, it means Amazon decided that the third season wasn’t worth the risk.

It’s terrible news for fans of the series, though. American Rust is one of those shows that got a bad hand. It was originally picked up in 2017 to air on USA Network and then dropped and picked up by Showtime. The series was canceled after the first season and saved by Amazon, which hasn’t given it a fair shot. The series was saved by Amazon in June 2022 and didn’t air until March 2024—although the writers and actors strikes in summer 2023 wouldn’t have helped that!

Both seasons are available to stream on Prime Video. It’s worth the watch, even though it has been canceled.

Next. Mark Pellegrino talks the growth of Virgil in American Rust. Mark Pellegrino talks the growth of Virgil in American Rust. dark