Marco Polo (TV series)  Marco Polo is an American drama web television series inspired by Marco Polo's early years in the court of Kublai Khan, the Khagan of the Mongol Empire and the founder of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). The show premiered on Netflix on December 12, 2014. The series was written and created by John Fusco and stars Lorenzo Richelmy in the title role with Benedict Wong as Kublai Khan. The series was produced by The Weinstein Company. On January 7, 2015, "Marco Polo" was renewed by Netflix for a 10-episode second season, which premiered on July 1, 2016. On December 12, 2016, Netflix announced they had canceled "Marco Polo" after two seasons. Sources told "The Hollywood Reporter" that the series' two seasons resulted in a $200 million loss for Netflix, and the decision to cancel the series was jointly taken by Netflix and The Weinstein Company.  + Luthi portrays Ling Ling in season 1, Chew in season 2. The series was originally developed at Starz, which had picked up the series in January 2012. After attempts to film in China failed, the project was released back to The Weinstein Company. Netflix then picked up the series for a 10-episode season, for approximately $90 million, making it one of the most expensive TV shows in the world, second to "Game of Thrones". The project was officially announced at Netflix in January 2014. Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg serve as executive producers and directed the pilot and second episodes, "The Wayfarer" and "The Wolf and the Deer", respectively. The series was filmed in Kazakhstan, Italy, and at Pinewood Studios in Malaysia, not to mention at outdoor locations in Malaysia, particularly tropical wilderness, as well as Slovakia and Hungary. Kazakhstan doubled as the steppes of Mongolia, Malaysia was the base of operations as well as serving as a location, Hungary provided a setting for Renaissance Rome, and Slovakia provided some mountain settings for Season 2. Stuntman Ju Kun was working on the show alongside fight choreographer Brett Chan, but went missing with the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 during pre-production. To prepare for her role as Chabi, Joan Chen read the book "The Secret History of the Mongol Queens" by Jack Weatherford, as she wanted her performance to reflect the culture of the time period. During his extensive research, show creator John Fusco traveled the Silk Road by horseback and also crossed the Ming Sha Dunes of Western China on camel.