USA Network is no longer moving forward with American Rust.

The drama, picked up straight-to-series in November, technically had a cast contingency attached to the order.

The project, based on Philipp Meyer's book of the same name about a sheriff and the rise and fall of a crime-riddled community in a small Pennsylvania Rust Belt town, had trouble casting a lead after multiple offers to top-name male stars over the past few months.

Writers Brian McGreevy and Lee Shipman, who adapted Meyer's The Son for AMC, penned the pilot with the author. They were to executive produce the drama with Michael De Luca (The Social Network) via his Michael De Luca Productions, as well as Platform One Media's Elisa Ellis Courtney Conte. De Luca's producing partner Elishia Holmes was on board as a co-executive producer, while David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express) was to direct and exec produce the premiere episode. The drama was produced in-house at Universal Cable Productions, with Platform One Media also attached.

The news comes after NBCUniversal-owned USA canceled the Depression-era drama Damnation after one low-rated season. USA Network's slate includes returning dramas Colony, Falling Water, Mr. Robot, Queen of the South, Shooter, Suits and the upcoming anthology Unsolved. Jessica Biel anthology The Sinner is awaiting word on its future.