Netflix cancels Marco Polo, the show that lost them $277m

For only the third time in the company's history, Netflix has cancelled one of their shows - but with very good reason.

Marco Polo, a high production production about the legendary explorer, will not get a third season. The show premiered in December 2014 and was followed by a second season in July this year. It starred Italian actor Lorenzo Richelmy and Doctor Strange star Benedict Wong.

It marks a rare move from the streaming company, which previously has only cancelled Hemlock Grove and Bloodline, both of which made it to a third season.

The news comes only a few months after Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos spoke positively of the show to The Hollywood Reporter.

"Marco Polo is one of those shows for us [where viewership doesn't matter to international audiences]," he said. "It's hugely popular all throughout Asia and Europe, and there's a lot of focus on if your neighbours might be watching it. And it's really irrelevant because it's doing what it's supposed to do."

The company says they do not measure the success of their shows by ratings, instead by how many subscribers they have. It is not known what their formula for success is, and what justifies something being renewed and something being cancelled.

THR has been told by sources that the show was a $277 million loss for Netflix across the two seasons.

The company is currently expanding to double their output of original programming and is investing hundreds of millions in order to do so.

Netflix has not yet renewed The Get Down, which has also been expensive with each episode costing US$15 million to produce. The second half of the season has not aired yet.