Ridley Scott on the future of AMC’s The Terror

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Based upon Dan Simmons' novel of the same name, which itself was inspired by true events, The Terror follows two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, as they depart England on a perilous voyage into uncharted territory to discover the Northwest Passage. However, the ships become trapped in the ice and the frozen and isolated crew find themselves faced with treacherous conditions and limited resources as they're pushed to the brink of extinction. To make matters worse, some deadly unseen terror appears to be stalking the crew. The first season of the series wrapped up earlier this week, bringing the bloody and terrifying tale to a close, but where does it go from here?

AMC hasn't renewed the series for a second season yet, but if they do, the story of the Franklin expedition likely won't be followed up upon as it came to a natural conclusion. While speaking with IndieWire, The Terror executive producer Ridley Scott said that the series was meant to take the anthology approach and that they're looking at several different possibilities for a second season.

You wouldn’t follow this through, I don’t think. This is complete, but they’re looking for another season of something else. It doesn’t have to even be period, right? It could be modern. So right now, we’re circling the wagons on several things.

Ridley Scott helped to bring The Terror to life by lending a hand on developing the episodes from the rough cut phase to their final form, and he found himself quite impressed by what he saw, particularly the haunting underwater sequence from the opening episode. "I didn’t realize they had diving suits that far back, holy shit! When he goes down in this canvas suit with this brushed copper helmet and has to look at the propeller, that was all just really well done," Scott said. "The green screen work was formidable, but you’ve got to have your fundamental center of that universe, the set. The set was just fantastic. I was very, very, very impressed. I have to take my hats off to everyone in the production. Not just the directors — one doesn’t often talk about the art direction and the wardrobe, and the digital work is spectacular. I was knocked out, frankly."

As I mentioned before, AMC hasn't decided on the future of the series yet, but the show was reportedly AMC's fourth most-watched program following The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead, and Better Call Saul. If the series does return, it will have to do so without showrunners David Kajganich (SUSPIRA) and Soo Hugh (The Killing), as the pair told TV Guide that they will be moving on.

When AMC greenlit the show now almost three years ago, they greenlit it as an anthology show. Meaning Season 1 would be the story of the Franklin Expedition, and subsequent seasons would take on a new narrative that carried the DNA that we established in Season 2… Dave and I aren't coming back for Season 2 by our choice. We're just really excited to see what AMC does with what we've done.

If The Terror does return, what sort of story would you like to have told?