The cancellation of Pretty Little Liars has finally been made official.
In an interview with Variety, Freeform chief Karey Burke has explained the decision to pull the cancellation trigger on the teen mystery drama, and discussed the potential of a movie follow-up:
What factors went into the decision to end “Pretty Little Liars” after seven seasons?
They were entirely creative. It’s rare that you have a chance to send a series out on top, which the feeling very much was that this would achieve. It ultimately comes down to [showrunner] Marlene [King] and her vision, and her sense of where the natural place for the narrative to end was, and this was that. Knowing that there was an ending point really gave her and [producers] Oliver [Goldstick] and Joe [Dougherty] and Charlie Craig creative license to build very carefully toward something. Rarely in television do you get the chance to do that. I think they did wonders with it.
About a year ago, Marlene and Shay Mitchell told me that a movie and an eighth season were “very possible.” Any chance for a “Pretty Little Liars” movie, or is this really the end?
Oh no, this is really the end. The community surrounding the show is very protective over it, as they should be because it’s a show that the narrative is built on mystery and secrets, so I think that everybody was being very protective of the destiny of the show. I think the reason there has been speculation is because I think the people involved love doing the show. It’s not a show that really anybody wanted to leave or wanted to end. I think the community around the show has formed a wonderful family who would want to continue to work together, as long as it made sense for the story. As much as there’s a lot of wishful thinking and speculation surrounding anything like this, this has been the understood and agreed-upon natural finishing point.
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