Lioness (Paramount +) S: Zaldaña, W/EP: Sheridan, EP Kidman

[Dr. Seymour Love]

Lioness - Starring Zoe Saldana and Executive Produced by Nicole Kidman - Expected to premiere in 2023

Paramount+ today announced that Zoe Saldaña is set to star in and executive produce the service's upcoming drama series LIONESS, from Academy Award(R) nominee Taylor Sheridan. Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman, with her production company, Blossom Films, will join LIONESS as an executive producer. Produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios, the series will begin production in June 2022 with Tom Brady ("NOS4A2," "Colony") at the helm as executive producer and showrunner.

LIONESS is based on a real-life CIA program and follows a Marine recruited to befriend the daughter of a terrorist to bring the organization down from within.

Saldaña plays Joe, a strong-willed, hard-nosed, station chief of the CIA's Lioness program, tasked with training, managing and leading her female undercover operatives working to assassinate the world's most dangerous terrorists.

"I am a huge fan of Taylor Sheridan's work and am honored to help him tell his next amazing story with LIONESS," said Tom Brady, showrunner and executive producer. "Taylor has created an epic, gripping, global spy thriller centered on a group of complex, strong women, and I can't imagine anyone better to help bring these characters to life than fellow executive producers Nicole Kidman and Zoe Saldaña."

"LIONESS is based on an incredible, largely unknown program between the CIA and special forces, where U.S. female soldiers would infiltrate the local community and gather intelligence," said David C. Glasser, CEO of 101 Studios. "Taylor has crafted an intense and gripping story within this uncharted world, and we are honored that it will be brought to life on Paramount+ through the acting and producing talents of Zoe Saldaña alongside executive producers Nicole Kidman and showrunner Tom Brady."

Actor and producer Zoe Saldaña is the only actress in history to have starred in both of the top-two highest-grossing films of all time: "Avatar" and "Avengers: Endgame." As a producer, she formed Cinestar Pictures along with her sisters Mariel and Cisely, producing contemporary, multicultural stories for everyone. Their limited series "From Scratch" is currently in post-production with Saldaña starring, and they are in post-production on "The Gordita Chronicles" and the feature film "Keyhole Garden." Saldaña's upcoming projects include the role of Neytiri in the highly anticipated series of "Avatar" sequels; "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3"; and "The Adam Project." Previous credits include the "Star Trek" franchise, "Guardians of the Galaxy," "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," "Avengers: Infinity War," "Center Stage," "Crossroads," "Drumline," "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," "The Losers," "Takers," "Colombiana," the mini-series "Rosemary's Baby," "Infinitely Polar Bear," "Nina," "Live by Night," and "Missing Link." She also lent her voice to the animated films "The Book of Life," "My Little Pony: The Movie," "Vivo," and "Maya and The Three." She made her directorial debut in 2011 with the short film "Kaylien."

[Canada]

Nicole Kidman cast in Taylor Sheridan’s CIA drama series ‘Lioness’ at Paramount+ (EXCLUSIVE)

[drb999]

Morgan Freeman cast


https://deadline.com/2023/01/lioness...us-1235220877/

[Dr. Seymour Love]

first look

[Gretiem]

Really looking forward to this

[Dr. Seymour Love]

SPECIAL OPS: LIONESS, inspired by an actual US Military program, follows the life of Joe (Zoe Saldaña) while she attempts to balance her personal and professional life as the tip of the CIA's spear in the war on terror. The Lioness Program, overseen by Kaitlyn Meade (Nicole Kidman) and Donald Westfield (Michael Kelly), enlists an aggressive Marine Raider named Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira) to operate undercover alongside Joe among the power brokers of State terrorism in the CIA's efforts to thwart the next 9/11.

The series stars Zoe Saldaña, Laysla De Oliveria, Michael Kelly with Morgan Freeman, and Nicole Kidman.

Stream the two-episode premiere of Special Ops: Lioness on Sunday, July 23, exclusively on Paramount+. Then stream all-new episodes on Sundays.

Special Ops: Lioness will release globally on Paramount+ July 23.

Special Ops: Lioness | Official Teaser | Paramount+ - YouTube

[sandboxgamer]

Solid cast and the trailer looks good. They definitely put some money into this. I was curious about it before but now I’m really excited to check it out. It’s getting to the point where they should rename Paramount+ to the Taylor Sheridan Network.

[avs commenter]

But will this come to diSC!!

[drb999]

Originally Posted by avs commenter

But will this come to diSC!!

It’s Paramount so it’s about 99.9% going to happen.

[BluBonnet]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y11p6YzdKHw

[mwynn]

SPECIAL OPS: LIONESS Trailer 2 (2023) Zoe Saldana, Morgan Freeman - YouTube

[BloodshotUSA]

Originally Posted by mwynn

[Show spoiler]SPECIAL OPS: LIONESS Trailer 2 (2023) Zoe Saldana, Morgan Freeman - YouTube

Sounds like a spinoff for a tv show that never happened

[BluBonnet]

Zoe Saldaña Hopes ‘Special Ops: Lioness’ Is a Spiritual Successor to ‘Sicario’

Zoe Saldaña may be in four of the biggest films of all time, but that doesn’t mean she’s immune to a sudden loss of confidence. That’s why she initially said no to Taylor Sheridan’s offer to center Special Ops: Lioness around her. However, just a year later, on the advice of her husband, Saldaña followed up with Sheridan, only to discover that he was still waiting for her. So she took the plunge, becoming the latest in a long list of movie stars to lead a Sheridan-verse television series.

Saldaña plays Joe, a CIA Special Activities operative who sends other female operatives undercover in order to gain the trust of terrorists’ wives, girlfriends and daughters. Lioness even has shades of Sicario, the film that reinvented Sheridan as a writer to be reckoned with, and paved the way for his mega-popular Yellowstone TV franchise. Saldaña’s character also operates in a bit of a gray area, which is similar to Josh Brolin’s own CIA character in Sicario. So Saldaña is optimistic that Sheridan’s Lioness will scratch the same itch that Sheridan and Denis Villeneuve’s 2015 thriller did.

“I do know that [Sheridan] has a great deal of admiration for the real work that gets done when we’re all sleeping, so he takes it upon himself to highlight this world,” Saldaña told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Saldaña also open up about the conclusion of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which saw Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and Gamora go their separate ways. Saldaña played an alternate version of the character since the original Gamora died at the hand of Brolin’s Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War (2018). And while she had a different outcome in mind at first, she appreciates that writer-director James Gunn didn’t force a new romance between this alternate version of Gamora and Peter.

“It was a bittersweet decision,” she said. “I wanted to know that in the final chapter, Gamora stays on and finds a way to become a Guardian again, but this felt like the right way to end things for her.”

[Gretiem]

Originally Posted by avs commenter

But will this come to diSC!!

Seems like all his shows have come to disc so I dont see why this would be any different. I just wish they would release in UHD since they are in 4k on paramount +.

[drb999]

Pretty good show so far. Laysla De Oliveira as Cruz is damn good. Zoe Saldana is too.

[John1701D]

Watched the first two and holy shit is this brutal and hard to watch.

[cheez avenger]

Yeah, badass so far, and I would say this is already a spiritual successor to Sicario.

[benlawrence]

Yeah this show is pure dread even the husbands story is depressing as hell. Its a good show but can’t see myself ever watching it again. Its just too depressing. If it changes to more lighter stuff it might be worth a purchase on Blu-Ray.

[BluBonnet]

‘Special Ops: Lioness’: Taylor Sheridan Espionage Thriller Off To Strong Start With Record Audience On Paramount+

Taylor Sheridan might have more ratings royalty on his hands with Special Ops: Lioness.

The espionage thriller premiered with two episodes on Paramount+ on July 23, and Paramount Global is now touting it as the streamer’s most-watched global series premiere in its first 24 hours, topping a previous record set by Halo in March 2022.

In addition to debuting on Paramount+, the first two episodes also aired on Paramount Network across the last two weekends. The first episode debuted on July 23 to coincide with the series’ streaming debut, and Episode 2 aired on July 30. The remaining episodes will only be available on Paramount+.

After three days of delayed viewing, Episode 1 scored a combined audience of nearly 6M across viewing on Paramount+ globally and linear viewing on Paramount Network in the U.S., according to Paramount Global.

(For reference, Samba TV reported that 918,000 U.S. households watched Episode 1 on Paramount+ on release day, while 218,000 watched Episode 2.)

“On one of the most competitive weeks of the year, Special Ops: Lioness scored as the #1 new scripted series of the year on cable and one of the highest performers of all time on Paramount+,” said Chris McCarthy, President/CEO, Paramount Media Networks & Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios. “Brilliantly created by Taylor Sheridan and brought to life by our stellar cast, this heart-pounding thriller inspired by real-life events clearly struck a chord with a huge audience.”

Added Domenic DiMeglio, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer, Paramount Streaming: “The strong viewer reception for Special Ops: Lioness reflects the power of Paramount across the board in creating, producing, marketing and delivering this incredible Taylor Sheridan drama with broad global appeal. We can’t wait for viewers to come along with us on this high stakes thrill ride.”

On the Paramount Network, Special Ops: Lioness followed Paramount Network and CMT’s airing of the Paramount+ original series 1883, which drummed up 2.2M viewers — a season high for that Taylor Sheridan series.

Inspired by an actual U.S. military program, the new Sheridan drama follows Joe (Saldaña) as she attempts to balance her personal and professional life as the tip of the CIA’s spear in the war on terror. The Lioness Program, overseen by Kaitlyn Meade (Nicole Kidman) and Donald Westfield (Michael Kelly), enlists an aggressive Marine Raider named Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira) to operate undercover alongside Joe among the power brokers of state terrorism in the CIA’s efforts to thwart the next 9/11.

[Lee A Stewart]

Another excellent episode yesterday. Very intriguing. Enjoying the show immensely. Paramount truly has the goose that lays the golden eggs: Taylor Sheridan.