Following Tension Between Its Stars, ABC Cancels CASTLE; Stana Katic Pens Open Letter to Fans

PEOPLE confirms reports that ABC has cancelled its action drama series CASTLE following eight seasons on the air. The series finale will air this Monday, May 16th.

According to the report, two different endings were filmed for the season finale as the creative team awaited news of cancellation or renewal. As BWW recently reported, series star Stana Katic announced her departure from the show following rumors of tension between her and co-star Nathan Fillion. A source tells PEOPLE, "The two were basically not speaking to each other if it wasn't in character."

Yesterday, Katic took to Twitter to share a hand-written thank you letter to her fans for their love and support. Check it out below:

About the show: Richard Castle - the devastatingly handsome and fun-loving mystery novelist - first connected with the NYPD when he helped solve a series of murders ripped from the pages of his famous Derek Storm novels. Suffering from writer's block, Castle found a new muse in the beautiful and intelligent NYPD Detective Kate Beckett. Using his friendship with the mayor to weasel his way into shadowing her, their partnership inspired Castle to write a new series of novels, Nikki Heat. Teaming Castle's writer intuition and Beckett's creative detective work, they've spent seven years solving homicides in New York, including the murder that started it all, Beckett's mother. And, of course, reluctantly falling in love.

"Castle" stars Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle, Stana Katic as NYPD Detective Kate Beckett, Tamala Jones as Medical Examiner Lanie Parish, Jon Huertas as NYPD Detective Javier Esposito, Seamus Dever as NYPD Detective Kevin Ryan, Molly Quinn as Alexis Castle with Susan Sullivan as Martha Rodgers. For Season 8, Toks Olagundoye ("The Neighbors") joins the series as Hayley, a quick-witted, free-spirited, former Scotland Yard police officer who works as a security specialist and is not afraid to cross lines to get things done.

Image courtesy of ABC