The acclaimed second season of the Ansel Elgort-led Tokyo Vice will be its last. Though Tokyo Vice has been canceled after only two seasons at Max, the executive producers behind the hit crime drama still have “more story to tell,” but it won’t be happening anytime soon.
Max original programming chief Sarah Aubrey, Tokyo Vice creator and executive producer J.T. Rogers, and director and executive producer Alan Poul confirmed the cancellation during Saturday’s Produced By conference in Los Angeles.
While it’s an unforeseen announcement considering the show has been well-received by critics and viewers alike, the cancellation has been a mutual decision in order to build a clear conclusion to Tokyo Vice’s story.
Why is Tokyo Vice canceled after two successful seasons?
Ending Tokyo Vice with only two seasons has always been what the executive producers have envisioned, though that doesn’t mean they won’t be working on another Tokyo Vice story in the future — only if the opportunity allows. Rogers and Poul, in a joint statement (via Variety), revealed that while it’s the end of Tokyo Vice’s story in Max, they are leaning on “what the future holds” for the crime drama.
“Over the last five years Max has made sure we got to tell our story. They have supported us through thick and thin. Not only did they give us these two seasons, they said yes when we asked to end season one with a series of cliffhangers, and they said yes when we asked for two extra episodes so we could land the plane in the way J.T. had always envisioned. We’re grateful not only to Max, but to our partners Fifth Season, who sold the show around the world, and made it a global success story. They were in the trenches with us always, guaranteeing that we could make the show we wanted to make,” the statement reads.
It added, “The response from both the press and from fans, in particular to Season 2, has been overwhelming. It’s been thrilling to find out how deeply viewers have engaged with our characters, and to hear how they are clamoring for more. We know there is more story to tell. Of course we’ll see what the future holds, but we are indeed grateful to have been able to share this story on Max until now.”
What is Tokyo Vice about?
Based on Jake Adelstein’s 2009 memoir, Tokyo Vice debuted in 2022. The second season, meanwhile, premiered on Max earlier this year. It follows an American journalist’s journey as he begins to follow the Tokyo Vice police squad in order to investigate and reveal the dark secrets behind the country’s organized crime syndicates.
In addition to Elgort as American journalist Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice starred Ken Watanabe as Hiroto, Rachel Keller as Samantha, Hideaki Itō as Jin, Ella Rumpf as Polina, Rinko Kikuchi as Emi, Yōsuke Kubozuka as Naoki, and more.
Seasons 1 and 2 of Tokyo Vice are available to stream on Max.
