Showtime has recently announced that its upcoming drama series, ‘King Shaka,’ has been cancelled. The series was executive produced by Antoine Fuqua and chronicled the sweeping story of the Zulu Empire founder. This marks another new series to be cancelled at Showtime before it has aired, as the network undergoes a programming overhaul in preparation for merging with sister streamer Paramount+ and renaming as Paramount+ with Showtime.

Despite the cancellation of King Shaka, Showtime is still working on multiple other drama projects with diverse storytelling, including a project from The Chi showrunner Justin Hillian, Panda from Fresh Off The Boat's Eddie Huang, and Quiet In Her Bones from writer Aminta Goyel. Showtime is also planning to add diversity to the Billions franchise, which is undergoing expansion with spinoffs.

King Shaka, which was headlined by Charles Babalola, was permanently shut down over the weekend as it was wrapping production in the historic KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) South Africa province, the birthplace of King Shaka. Despite this, most of the filming, including the final episode, had been completed, and producer CBS Studios is exploring other options for the series, which will be able to assemble a full season out of the footage. Showtime is assisting the studio in their efforts to find a new home for the series.

The cancellation of King Shaka comes following the reevaluation of Showtime's slate by the new regime. The pipeline for the third programming lane, built around tentpole The Chi, includes the untitled Justin Hillian project, Eddie Huang's Panda, and Goyel's Quiet In Her Bones.

King Shaka, which was formerly known as Shaka: King of the Zulu Nation, comes from writers Olu Odebunmi and Tolu Awosika, Propagate, Fuqua Films, and CBS Studios. It was a longtime passion project for Fuqua and involved a large cast and elaborate battle scenes. The series involved a production investment in South Africa and the KZN province, with more than 300 locals hired for jobs across all facets of the production.

It is unfortunate that King Shaka has been cancelled before it could air, but Showtime has a strong lineup of diverse and compelling drama projects in the works. The network is committed to delivering complex characters, subversive antiheroes, high-stakes powerful worlds, and culturally diverse takes to its audiences. We can't wait to see what's next.