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Season four of Money Heist landed on Netflix recently and has quickly retained its top spot in the streaming giant’s top 10 most-watched shows. The series follows a group of misfits, brought together by the enigmatic Professor (played by Álvaro Morte) to carry out a robbery to destabilise the Spanish capitalist system. Global audiences have been rapt by every twist and turn as the group attempts to orchestrate several high stakes heists.
Why was Money Heist nearly cancelled?
Money Heist – or La Casa de Papel – initially debuted on Spanish broadcaster Antena 3 in its home country in 2017.
The show attracted record ratings in Spain with audiences gripped by antics of the Professor and his associates.
However, as the show went on, La Casa de Papel started to see a wane in viewing figures.
The future was no longer looking bright for the show with dwindling audiences numbers and the programme-makers expecting a cancellation soon.
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On the Netflix documentary Money Heist: The Phenomenon, it was revealed the show nearly got cancelled.
Interestingly, Money Heist screenwriter Javier Gómez Santander previously told Spanish newspaper El Mundo in 2019: “Success? No, La Casa de Papel was a failure.
“Contrary to what it seems, the life of the series is the story of a failure. Antena 3 cut the number of planned chapters. The series maintained decent figures, but nothing special.
“The feeling was not flattering and I was already thinking about the next projects of the producer.
“But I did have this idea that this poor series deserved something more … and then it happened.”
Money Heist was saved by the streaming platform after parts one and two were released in one go, lighting the touch fire for the drama.
Despite little promotion on the platform, viewers found the series and quickly binged through the episodes.
Following the success of the show, Netflix acquired the rights to La Casa de Papel – which is titled Money Heist on the service – in late 2017.
Season three or Part three arrived in 2019 to an even bigger audience with a fourth instalment coming out this year.
The show propelled its stars into the spotlight while Money Heist creator Pina has become a household name and much sought-after by producers looking to work with him.
Pina’s latest show White Lines – a Spanish-English series – has captured Netflix audiences after launching recently.
The show is a joint production between Pina’s Vancouver Media, Sony Pictures Television and company Left Bank Pictures, which counts The Crown, ITV’s Quiz and Outlander among its repertoire.
Speaking to media including Express.co.uk, during a BAFTA Q&A today (Tuesday, May 19), Andy Harries OBE the head of Left Bank Pictures revealed he’d tapped up Pina for White Lines prior to the global success of Money Heist.
He explained he wanted a Spanish writer to pen the scripts for White Lines.
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The drama is set in Ibiza and features a mixture of British and Spanish cast members with dual languages used throughout.
Harries said: “I thought the most important thing about White Lines was to find a Spanish writer and we were incredibly lucky and turned up Alex Pina, who of course is now internationally known for Money Heist and we got to him just before La Casa de Papel had been picked up by Netflix.
“At the time, he had done, shot and transmitted two series of La Casa de Papel. It had gone out in Spain and had been cancelled and he had been at a bit of a loose end.”
The executive went on to say: “Literally, three months later, this show that had been cancelled in Spain was bought by Netflix for literally two dollars.
“They bunged it out without any promotion and within two weeks, the thing was number one around the world.”
Money Heist seasons 1 to 4 are a streaming on Netflix now
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