Hopes for Season 3 of 'The Hunting Party' fades as NBC moves on from Melissa Roxburgh thriller

The Hunting Party will not be returning to NBC with fresh industry reports indicating the crime thriller has effectively been cancelled after just one season.

According to Deadline cast options on the series have now lapsed which is a major sign that NBC is no longer moving forward with the show or keeping its stars tied exclusively to the project. The development all but confirms there is no path ahead for a second season.

The conspiracy thriller which blended procedural crime drama with a high-concept mystery starred Melissa Roxburgh as a former FBI profiler leading a team tasked with tracking down dangerous killers who escaped from a secretive prison.

The update comes as NBC continues reshaping its programming slate ahead of the new television season.

The Hunting Party was notably missing from the network’s summer and fall schedules released earlier this year further fueling speculation that the show had quietly been dropped.

The series is one of several titles affected by a wider shake-up at the network. NBC has also parted ways with a number of other shows ahead of the summer season including Brilliant Minds, Law & Order: Organized Crime, Karamo, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Access Hollywood and Access Daily.

Deadline also reported that cast options have expired for another NBC project the Emily Deschanel-led pilot Key Witness suggesting that drama may not move forward either.

NBCUniversal executive Jeff Bader previously told reporters ahead of the company’s upfront presentation in May that the network is working with a “very tight schedule" a comment that hinted at difficult decisions around renewals and cancellations.

While The Hunting Party appears to be finished NBC is moving ahead with a fresh slate of programming for the fall.

New shows set to air include Line of Fire, The Traitors and Newlyweds, while returning series include Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago P.D., Happy’s Place and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

For fans of The Hunting Party however,the lapse in cast options appears to be the clearest sign yet that the Melissa Roxburgh-led thriller has reached the end of the road.