Prime Video’s decision to cancel Ride or Die after just one season has reportedly left those involved in the Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer buddy spy comedy blindsided. The show performed well by nearly every metric available. Paramount Television Studios, the lead studio behind the series, is now shopping it to other buyers, according to Deadline.
What is ‘Ride or Die’ about?
Per the official description, the series follows best friends Debbie Claybourne (Spencer) and Judith Burton (Waddingham), who “thought they knew everything about each other, except Judith turns out to be an international assassin. When a mysterious figure emerges from Judith’s past and a hit goes horribly wrong, both of their worlds are turned upside down as they’re forced to go on the run together. It’s a race against time and a road trip across Europe, with law enforcement, highly trained assassins, and some very dangerous criminals at their heels.”
The cast also includes Ed Skrein, Calam Lynch, Savannah Steyn, Jamie Parker and Jacky Ido, with Sylvia Hoeks and Bill Nighy.
How well did ‘Ride or Die’ actually perform?
Ride or Die launched July 15 with a fraction of the marketing budget behind Amazon’s YA summer slate, yet still hit No. 1 in daily U.S. rankings within its first two days, logging 927,000 views on Luminate, which is more than double Elle‘s comparable haul and nearly four times that Off Campus. It went on to top Luminate’s U.S. minutes-watched chart in its first full week and continued that trend into its third week, according to Deadline.
On the Nielsen Weekly Top 10, the series debuted at No. 8 overall and No. 3 among originals with 869 million minutes viewed, climbing to No. 4 overall and No. 2 among streaming originals with 922 million minutes in its second week. Over its first 14 days, Deadline reports it was Prime Video’s most-watched new scripted series in the U.S. in the year spanning July 2025 to July 2026. Globally, it held the No. 1 spot among Prime Video originals for three weeks and remained in the platform’s weekly Global Top 10 more than two months later. The series also scored 96% with critics and 85% with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.
So why was ‘Ride or Die’ actually canceled?
Deadline reports the reasoning behind the cancellation remains murky, but suggests the show’s appeal to middle-aged women may have been a factor, as that demographic is reportedly seen internally as less valuable to Amazon’s subscriber growth since many already hold Prime memberships for shopping. The outlet also notes the series came in under budget, ruling out cost overruns as an explanation.
Coates, showrunner Matt Miller and director Peyton Reed executive produce alongside Spencer for Orit Entertainment, Waddingham, Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti and Irene Yeung for Double Dream, Brian Clisham and Stephanie Kluft. The series was produced by Paramount Television Studios, in association with Skydance Television, Amazon MGM Studios, Double Dream and Orit Entertainment.
Featured image photo credit: Photo: Prime Video
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