Money Heist began on a free-to-air channel in Spain and was an instant hit but as the show progressed, the viewing figures began to fall. When season two wrapped, the cast said goodbye to one another and prepared to move on with their lives as it had been decided La Casa De Papel would be cancelled. Fortunately, Netflix stepped in to save the popular series.
In Money Heist: The Phenomenon, it was revealed Netflix was the key to saving the series and continuing the story of The Professor (played by Alvaro Morte).
The narrator told viewers: “Our story begins in 2017 on a Spanish free-to-air TV Channel, Antena 3. We started off well with 4.5 million viewers. But…,” before trailing off.
“The first season did very well, especially at the start of the series, but viewership gradually declined in the second season,” producer Jesús Colmenar explained.
Rio star Miguel Herran added: “It dropped by half.”
READ MORE: Money Heist’s Tokyo star on difficult scene which left her ‘unwell’
While Netflix didn’t make a big announcement about the arrival of Money Heist, the cast noticed an increase in followers on their social media channels as the series took off worldwide.
Alex described: “Enormous banners in Saudi Arabia. I couldn’t believe it.”
Homages to La Casa De Papel and the Dali mask popped up everywhere including Brazil, Mexico and Columbia.
Money Heist went on to make it to the second most popular series in the main global ranking competing against every other show in history.
