EXCLUSIVE: ABC‘s hit procedural The Rookie might spawn a second spinoff sequence — and in contrast to the primary one, it will keep within the cop present area. The community, Lionsgate Television and twentieth Television are in early growth on the offshoot, written by The Rookie creator Alexi Hawley, sources inform Deadline.
Set in Washington state, the potential spinoff follows a male cop who’s entering into a brand new section of life in his second act. It retains the main midlife change idea of the Los Angeles-set unique sequence, which began off with Nathan Fillion‘s John Nolan switching careers to turn into the oldest rookie within the LAPD.
The Rookie government producer/showrunner Hawley is government producing the offshoot alongside The Rookie star/government producer Fillion and fellow Rookie government producers Bill Norcross, whose real-life story impressed the mothership sequence, and Michelle Chapman. Lionsgate Television will co-produce with twentieth Television.
Headed into its seventh season, slated to premiere Jan. 7, The Rookie stays certainly one of ABC’s most watched sequence that additionally has emerged as a prime performer on streamer Hulu amid a surge in reputation amongst younger viewers.
Disney Television Group President Craig Erwich revealed in February that The Rookie was on the time the #2 drama on Hulu and had generated greater than 500 million hours considered on the streamer since its 2018 launch, with almost half of them in the latest yr.
“Fans are nonetheless discovering that present and can proceed for years to return. That’s the endurance of a great drama,” he stated.
Looking to capitalize on that, I hear ABC earlier this yr gave Hawley a blind script dedication supposed for a possible new Rookie spinoff, which resulted within the present challenge in growth.
This is a special route than the one ABC took with the primary Rookie spinoff, which originated with a two-episode backdoor pilot on The Rookie throughout the 2021-22 season that launched a handful of characters, led by Emmy winner Niecy Nash-Betts as Simone Clark, the oldest rookie within the FBI Academy. Co-created by Hawley and Terence Paul Winter, the offshoot, titled The Rookie: Feds, was picked as much as sequence whose run was reduce brief a minimum of partially by the 2023 Hollywood strikes.
Lionsgate accomplished the acquisition of The Rookie producer eOne on the finish of 2023, virtually two months after The Rookie: Feds had been canceled after one season. The indie studio took over Hawley’s eOne general deal after which prolonged it this previous summer season with increasing The Rookie franchise among the many objectives.
Hawley is also the creator/government producer of Lionsgate TV’s Netflix sequence The Recruit, starring Noah Centineo, which is returning for a second season Jan. 30. He is repped by the Shuman Company and legal professional Adam Kaller.
